


In Sickness and In Health

by Applesaday



Series: A Million Ways to Say It [3]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-15
Updated: 2015-11-01
Packaged: 2018-03-01 15:57:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 34,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2779061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Applesaday/pseuds/Applesaday
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As if being in an accident wasn't enough, now she's being told she's forgotten the last 3 years of her life? And in those 3 years, she got married...to her? Just great.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Waking Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! As promised, the continuation of my SQW drabble!
> 
> If you have read this previously, I just did some editing...it's incredible how many mistakes you find AFTER posting, even if you checked it beforehand.
> 
> Anyway, if this is your first time reading this, I hope you enjoy!

_ _

* * *

 

_The car swerved._

_Her heart raced_

_A hand gripped hers on the steering wheel._

_They looked at each other._

_"I-"_

* * *

Emma felt a blinding pain on her head, making her groan as she came to. She felt like she had been hit by a truck, and then had a lawnmower pass over the wreck.

Before she could get her bearings, she was engulfed into a tight hug.

"Oh thank goodness Emma! You had us so worried and we begun to fear the worst-" Mary Margaret was rambling in her ear, and Emma hugged her back, albeit a tad bit awkwardly. She still wasn't completely used to having people care about her so much.

Once they broke apart, Emma did a double take. "Whoa, what happened?"

Her mother looked at her curiously. "You were in a car crash. There was a terrible thunderstorm and you hydroplaned onto a fallen tree."

Emma frowned. "How long was I out?"

"A couple of days."

Now Emma was truly confused. "And you grew your hair out in just a couple of days?"

Although her hair wasn't back to the glory of her Snow White days, Mary Margaret had let her hair grow a bit longer than her usual pixie-cut style. The older woman blanched, and let out a stammering, "What's the last thing you remember?"

Emma let out a sigh. "I don't know, I guess it was when Hook and I were coming back from the past. Zelena's time travel thingy came back to life and we brought Marian back to Storybrooke."

"Oh no, you too."

Emma was confused. "Me too? What too? What's wrong?"

"Emma, that was 3 years ago."

* * *

Regina was staring at her son. At least she hoped it was her son, even if he was now a lot taller and a teenager, voice deeper and trying to figure out his body.

"So, what happened in these three years? I see you've grown."

Henry grinned at the last comment, but it faltered as he saw his mom waiting for an actual answer. "Yeah, a lot of things have happened."

He was keeping something from her, that's for sure. She would find out what it was. "Has the town at least gotten some peace and quiet after Zelena?"

"Kinda not really," he smirked. "We had Elsa, some ogres, you know, just another day in Storybrooke. Never dull."

The brunette smiled at her son, and ran a hand through her hair. She felt something different on it, and took a good look at why it felt peculiar. She raised the left hand up to her son, preparing a glare should he not answer adequately. "What is this?"

"A ring." He was clearly her son, expertly dodging questions.

"What kind?"

"Silver?"

"Henry..." she had used the warning tone a lot in the past, and she didn't care if her son was already 15 and a little bit taller than her, she still knew how to intimidate.

"It's a wedding ring."

"And who is it that I'm supposedly married to?"

* * *

"Say  _what_?!" Emma was sure her eyes would bug out at any second. This had to be a joke.

"A lot of time has passed, you two managed to get along, and eventually fall for one another."

"Is this Storybrooke's own version of Punk'd? Seriously what the hell?"

Mary Margaret sighed, sitting on the bed. "Look Emma, believe me when I say that this was my exact reaction when  _you_  told  _me_  about your secret relationship with her, but I've learnt to accept it."

Emma nodded slowly. She was married to none other than Regina Mills. Man she must've conked her head harder than she thought.

Speaking of the devil, the door burst open, and sporting a hospital gown identical to hers, Regina came in, fury in her eyes, a faint purple aura surrounding her. She barely registered Henry trailing behind her, or how different he looked.

She made a beeline to the bed, and practically growled at Mary Margaret, "I swear, if this is some kind of sick joke, I will tear-"

"Whoa there Regina." Emma gently placed a hand on Regina's arm, but the latter wrenched her arm free of the touch.

"You don't get to say anything either. I don't know what the hell kind of game this is but I refuse to play a part in this."

Mary Margaret refused to cower, and she replied, "Three years have passed Regina, doesn't a small part of you see this as being plausible?"

In truth, Regina wanted to say yes. She wanted to believe she had found love, and heck, she did think of Emma as attractive, and wouldn't have found it so unlikely the two wound up together, despite their various spats in the past. However, Regina attacked first and asked questions later. It was a tried and proven method to give herself time to breathe and figure things out, not to mention it allowed her to build the solid wall to protect her from sadness.

So, looking at Mary Margaret, she ground out a simple "No", and left the room.

Emma twirled the ring on her finger, her lie detector still ringing from Regina's answer.

* * *

If Regina had hoped her house would offer answers, she was sorely mistaken.

Well, there were answers, just not the ones she was looking for or expecting. In her state of denial, she had hoped she'd see that she still lived by herself with Henry, not that her house now had signs of one more inhabitant living within it, joining family pictures with gusto. Regina picked up one frame, seeing that it had to have been recent, Henry not looking much younger than how he was now, and she saw with a pang how happy she looked beside Emma, Henry between them.

She put down the picture before the tears she'd been keeping at bay actually spilled. This was too much for her.

She heard the door open, and got ready to attack the intruder, a fireball appearing on her hand.

"Whoa mom. It's just me." Henry had his arms up, eyes wide.

"Sorry Henry, I'm just- this is too much to take in."

"I know, but you asked."

Regina smiled, chuckling softly, "Yes, I suppose I did."

"Why did you lie?"

She looked at her son confused. What was he talking about?

When his mother didn't say anything, Henry elaborated, "After you left, Ma said that you were lying, when you answered grandma's question. So if you do find it plausible, why did you lie?"

How could Regina explain to her son that this was her survival mechanism? This had been how she had survived heartbreak after heartbreak in her life.

* * *

_"Why do you keep lying to yourself Regina?"_

_"You don't know me, Ms. Swan."_

_Emma scoffed, letting out a mirthless chuckle. "I know you very well Regina Mills. I know that when you're nervous or scared, you take a step back from anything personal, including calling people by their first names. Also if you forgot, I have-"_

_"A built-in lie detector. Yes we've established that at least a dozen times Ms. Swan, but I would have that lie detector checked out for faults after so many years in use. You can't put your inability to take a no for an answer as an excuse to break out the lie detector line. I'm sure it's a great party trick, but I will continue to insist, I do **not**  like you."_

_"Okay Regina, whatever makes you sleep at night."_

_She probably should've left it at that, but she had a need to have the final word. "Why do you care anyway? You're with the pirate."_

_"Didn't work out." Emma didn't explain any more, but Regina could see there was a story behind it, and not a pleasant one. She had the sudden urge to find the pirate and inflict pain on him. Why, she didn't know. She could hazard a guess, but she didn't like the implications from that reason._

_But Regina had to put her foot in her mouth with a snide remark. "That's too bad, you two seemed perfect for each other."_

_Emma didn't even bother to answer the jab, instead she just threw her hands in the air and left with a huff._

* * *

Regina's eyes shot open. She knew for a fact that that hadn't been just any old dream. This was a memory.

She let out a sigh. At least this memory made sense. She  _didn't_  like Emma, and how could she have gone to marry the daughter of her arch-nemesis? The thought baffled her. But this? This made sense. This was the dynamic she was used to with the blonde. Not the lovey-dovey still images she saw around the house.

Looking over at her clock, she saw that it was only 4am. She sat up and looked around the room. The room she and Emma supposedly shared. Thankfully the blonde wasn't here tonight, Henry told her that his other mother was staying over with the Charmings, giving both of them the space they needed.

Regina fell back onto her bed with a groan. Why did this have to be so complicated? Why couldn't she will her mind to just remember everything so she could make sense of the situation?

* * *

_Emma let out a hiss of pain, clutching her stomach. The gravel beneath her rumbled as the ogre walked away from her, thinking her dead._

_She might as well be, with the pain she was feeling; she couldn't even reach her phone, and there was no one around her. It was the middle of the night, and she was the sole person on tonight's graveyard shift._

_As she rested her head back on the pavement, she let out another wince of pain. The spiked club he had hit her with was coated with some kind of poison. Emma didn't even know what kind it was, but the sickly green color was enough of an indicator to know it wasn't good. And that green mixed with her blood didn't make her feel any better about the matter._

_Her ears perked up as she heard heels clacking on the pavement. She didn't even have the strength to look up to see who it was._

_"Emma!" All of a sudden, her head and shoulders were being gently lifted, and someone sat beneath her. She opened her eyes and saw Regina Mills above her, eyes filled with worry._

_She wanted to say something snarky, something like how her caring was showing, but the pain in her abdomen was way too much for her to even try to think about coming up with a complex sentence, so instead she settled for a simple, "Hey."_

_Regina smiled a pained smile. "Hey."_

_"Man these ogres pack a punch huh?"_

_The brunette's smile faltered. She remembered their situation, and quickly started to look at Emma's chest, the shirt bloodied and torn. She started trying to lift the mess up to clear the blonde's chest to heal it._

_"Careful, I think there's poison in there."_

_"Yes, it's a power-drainer."_

_"Should I even ask how you-" Emma paused to catch her breath, flinching slightly. She took a deep breath and continued, "how you know that?"_

_Regina smirked, "Comes with being an Evil Queen, dear." She then finished lifting away Emma's shirt so that her chest was unconstrained._

_"Right, of course." Emma rolled her eyes. "So, what does a power-drainer do?"_

_Regina's hands glowed purple as she set to work in healing the younger woman. "It does what it says. Life force, energy, magical powers. All drained. Ogres were never fair fighters, and just one whack of this can send even the strongest warriors packing."_

_"But-" she inhaled sharply. "But you touched it."_

_"Immunity. Ogres aren't the only ones that would know about the potion, and well, I wasn't exactly the most well-liked person in the Enchanted Forest. Suffice it to say that I was to be the victim of plenty of assassination plots in the past."_

_Emma saw the pain in Regina's eyes, and felt that one day, she'd ask about it. For now, she just had to focus on not dying, and with the little strength she had, she lifted her hand to give Regina's arm a comforting squeeze._

_Suddenly Regina's ministrations doubled in power, Emma gasped at how quickly the pain seemed to be vanishing, purple light glowing brightly._

_As the light died, Emma felt her breathing return to normal, and her hand dropped from where it previously rested on Regina's arm. She still felt weak, but managed to get out a faint "Thanks" to Regina, with a lopsided smile and everything._

_Regina, however, didn't respond. Instead, she lowered her head towards Emma's, until their lips met._

_Although Emma didn't really have much remaining strength, she returned the kiss back with as much force as she could muster. They broke apart once they heard an ambulance coming, and Emma blacked out just as she saw Regina trying to lift her towards where the ambulance had stopped._

* * *

Emma went down to the kitchen, carefully passing by her little brother's room. The little toddler had been ecstatic to see her when she arrived at the house. Emma could barely wrap her head around the fact that her missing memories meant that the newborn she remembered was now 3 from one day to the next.

But now, what currently occupied her mind was the crazy dream she'd just woken up from. Was that how they had fallen in love? With Regina healing her from an ogre attack? It seemed like the kind of thing that would happen to them. She glanced at the clock, noting it was just past 4, and wondered how Regina was feeling. They'd both been released from the hospital, though from what she heard, Regina had left after their little scene in the hospital room.

Whale had told her that this kind of amnesia probably went away with time. Memories would come back from time to time, usually in dreams or the like. They just needed to arm themselves with patience, and to see him in a week to check for progress.

So far Emma just had the one memory where she'd nearly died. It was weird to see everything like this, rather than having the memories of that time for context.

She drank her cup of water and placed it in the sink, before making her way back to her room. Once inside, she glanced once again at the bag with her clothes sitting on the chair. Mary Margaret had insisted that David had brought some clothes over from Regina's house — she still had trouble seeing it as both hers and Regina's — but Emma knew it was a lie. She didn't press, and figured that she'd eventually find what it was.

Were they having an argument? Was that why they were out driving in the middle of the night through Storybrooke's forests? She fidgeted with the ring on her finger as she thought, she had been unable to find the strength to take it off. Just because she couldn't remember it, didn't mean they weren't still married, right?

* * *

Regina looked up as she heard a loud yawn, looking up to see her teenaged son dragging his feet towards the kitchen, hair standing up on all ends.

"Morning Henry."

She only received a grunt in response.

"Nice to see some things don't change, like your conversational habits in the morning."

Now she got a glare, and Regina just laughed. She went over to the garbage can to throw away the apple peel, and was met with a strange sight.

"Henry? Why is there a broken vase in the garbage?" She looked over at her son and saw that he woke up instantly.

"It broke."

"I can see that. But why would it be thrown away?" She was sure that she would have repaired with magic it if it had been broken. What had happened? Was there an argument behind its broken state?

"No reason. You guys just decided that it was an ugly vase anyway and just threw it out." Henry was lying, but it was clear she wasn't going to get the answer from him now.

A while later, she left the house and headed to her office. Just because she had amnesia didn't mean that she wasn't going to keep doing her job. As she got nearer to the building, she saw someone heading her way, and a familiar voice calling her name.

Emma stopped right beside her, catching her breath.

"Yes, Ms. Swan?" She didn't have all day to stand here while her supposed wife was trying to come up with how to word her question.

"How are you?"

Regina was sure that hadn't been the blonde's original question, but still decided to entertain the other woman. "I'm fine, yourself?"

"Good, good." Emma nodded distractedly, and then, as if having a mental discussion with herself, decided on continuing, "Did you get any 'weird' dreams?"

The brunette didn't even think of the answer to that question, she merely noticed how, when the blonde brought up her hands to make air quotes, the glint of a ring caught her eye, and when she opened her mouth to speak, she said, "I see you're still wearing your ring."

Emma blushed, but her face fell as she saw that Regina wasn't. The indentation of the ring, after years of use, was still there, but Regina refused to wear it while she didn't know how she wound up where she was. "Y-yeah, figured that I'd lose it otherwise, so why not."

Regina didn't believe that for a second, and she didn't have time to be psychoanalyzing her pseudo-wife, so she just sighed and kept walking, leaving Emma standing there confused and hurt.

* * *

_"It's part of my job!"_

_"Your job is to protect people, not become target practice!"_

_"Come on, I'm not hurt!"_

_"But you could've been!"_

_Emma and Regina were glaring at each other, personal space long forgotten. The blonde huffed, stepping back, pacing around the room. "Look Regina, the bad guy's caught, and it's over, can't we just let it go? If we keep having spats every time I get hurt-"_

_"Maybe it'll convince you to stop trying to be the hero all the damn time," Regina spat, crossing her arms._

_"What would you have me do? Twiddle my thumbs around doing nothing, having other people get hurt because my wife doesn't think I can handle myself?"_

_Regina's eyes flashed a dangerous purple. "Is that what you think? That I'm holding you back? Keeping you from being the big hero?"_

_"No!-"_

_"Well it sounds like you're very much saying that!" Regina uncrossed her arms, a purple aura beginning to form. "So tell me, what were you saying?"_

_"Regina calm down, you know the stress isn't good for you!" Emma put up her hands in a placating gesture, inching her way closer to her wife._

_"Because my magic is 'dangerous'?" Regina sneered. "So you can play the big hero risking your life and nearly get killed by a wayward ax, but I'm supposed to keep a lid on **my**  magic? If being a hero is such a big part of you, Emma Swan, so is my magic."_

_"This is different Regina..."_

_"No, it's not!" A loud clink was heard as large shards of ceramic flew out. Regina, having noticed what happened, shielded herself, but Emma got the brunt of it, shards scratching at her face and arms._

_"Emma-" Regina saw the blood forming at the scratches by her wife, and tried to approach her, but Emma backed away._

_Without another word, the blonde went upstairs, and after a few minutes, came back down carrying a bag. Regina barely heard her wife say, "Call if you need anything," before the door slammed closed._

_Neither noticed the other was crying._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! So that was the first chapter!
> 
> More memories coming back, more drama right here!
> 
> Feedback is always appreciated!


	2. Coming Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the next part for this!
> 
> I hope everyone enjoys this!

Dinner was awkward and silent to say the least. Although Mary Margaret was keeping little Neal entertained and babbling by feeding him dinner, the other two members of the family looked solemn and glum.

David had been with Emma during the day, helping her out at the Station, and it broke his heart to see his daughter so confused and broken. She came in to work looking lost, it was a wonder she had managed to get there at all. When he had asked what was wrong, he got a mousy reply about Regina having taken her ring out. Since then the usually active Sheriff had moved around like she was on automatic pilot.

Clearly getting the two back together would be more complicated than they originally thought. Emma wasn't convinced that she was truly with Regina, seeing how quick the other was to let her go. David and Mary Margaret were at least thankful that the memories were still intact enough that their marriage wasn't a completely alien idea. Just the thought of how disastrous it'd be if they had been stuck in their mentality during the curse made the two parents thankful for the little blessings.

Emma watched as Mary Margaret got a particularly stubborn Neal to open his mouth, getting a spoonful of vegetables inside.

"Ha ha!" was Mary Margaret's victorious cry.

"Maama!" Little Neal drawled, looking petulant, scowling at the trick.

The move got Emma's mouth to curl up into the smallest of smiles. David took the time to put his hand on top of Emma's, getting his daughter to look at him. "Don't worry, Regina will come around."

"But what if she doesn't? What if she gets her memories back and realizes that she really doesn't want to be together with me?" Emma slowly sunk her head into her hands as she said that. How was it possible that even though she was missing her memories as well, she had to be doing the effort to get them together. Typical Regina, always the dainty queen, having others do the work, she thought shrewdly.

Mary Margaret turned to face the mass of blonde hair that was her daughter's head, and smirked as she replied, "Well if that's the case, I'll kindly remind her that it was  _her_  that threatened  _us_  that if we did anything to sabotage your relationship, she'd burn us into a crisp."

"Crispy crisps!" came the enthusiastic cry from the toddler.

Emma looked up slowly. "Seriously?"

Her parents nodded, remembering the very moment.

"It was right when you two decided to come out to us..."

* * *

_Mary Margaret was sure someone was messing with her. She looked at David, making sure she had heard correctly. While she was gaping in surprise, her husband was scowling towards the two women sitting on the couch in front of them._

_Specifically their intertwined hands, with Emma's thumb rubbing calming circles on Regina's._

_Mary Margaret looked at Regina, noting that for the first time, it looked as if the usually composed woman was nervous as hell. Her daughter, on the other hand, was biting her lip, looking hopeful that her parents wouldn't cause too much trouble._

_Although they weren't opposed to Emma's preference to the fairer sex, her choice of Regina as a partner was something they couldn't wrap their heads around._

_"You're joking right?" Mary Margaret blurted out. Clearly that had been the wrong thing to say, as she saw that the mayor's nervousness started to slowly transition towards anger._

_Emma sighed, of course this wouldn't be easy. "No, we're-"_

_"No!" David stood up in a blind fury. "I refuse to believe that this- this **thing**  is real."_

_Emma stood up as well, bringing Regina up with her due to their joined hands. Mary Margaret decided to follow suit._

_"It's very much real." Emma stared down at her father defiantly, daring him._

_"What have you done with her, witch!" Currently the only thing keeping David from taking Regina by force was a small coffee table, but that wasn't too much for him as his shins touched the table, fists clenched._

_"I've done nothing, **Charming** ," Regina bit back with a snarl._

_Emma was glad that her dad didn't walk around with his sword, otherwise she was sure he'd have pulled it out by now._

_"I forbid this to go any further." He turned towards Emma, pleading eyes begging to get her to understand. "This witch has done nothing but give our family grief!"_

_"Regina's not the same person you knew!"_

_"Ha! We can't even count the amount of times your mother and I have tried to forgive her, only to have her spit it back out in our faces. She can't be redeemed!"_

_"That was more than 30 years ago!" Emma still hadn't let go of Regina's hand, Mary Margaret noticed. She also noticed that Regina's anger at them had dissipated as she saw her girlfriend – not that Mary Margaret could get behind the title without getting a bitter taste in her mouth – defend her against her parents with such bravado._

_"And she kept the curse alive for 28 of those years!" David sighed, turning to Mary Margaret for support. Clearly nothing he said would get through to her, but rather that it would get rebounded back with as much force as he threw it._

_"And ever since the curse broke she has done nothing but help us defeat the bad guys!"_

_"Emma," Mary Margaret inched forward, hoping to get through to her daughter. "The point your father is trying to make is that Regina can't be trusted-"_

_"Thank you Snow. Please just forget I'm even in the room," Regina bit back._

_"You don't get to talk to my wife like that!" David made his way around the coffee table standing mere inches away from Regina. The latter had let go of Emma's hand, her own hands balling into fists, glowing a faint purple, ready to do anything at a moment's notice._

_"Emma, please see reason!" Mary Margaret eyed Regina's hands warily, but she plowed on. "She's the reason that you had to grow up alone! That you went for 28 years without a family-"_

_"STOP!" Emma was looking livid. Even Regina did a double take. "For all the things you can put the blame on Regina for, **this**  isn't one of them. It's both of your faults that I grew up without parents."_

_"That's not true! We-"_

_"No it's not! It wasn't Regina who put me into a freaking magical wardrobe!"_

_"She drove us to that decision. We did it to save you from the curse." David could hardly believe this was happening, had Regina already corrupted their daughter that much?_

_"And to give you your best chance!" Mary Margaret added with a smile, hoping that she'd understand._

_Alas, she didn't. "No. **Me**  giving Henry up was for his best chance. **You two**  decided to follow a maniac's prophecy to guarantee your futures without any regard to what it might do to me! What did you think I was going to do? Stay in limbo for 28 years? I had a pretty shitty life racked up until Henry knocked on my door. So  **don't**  talk to me about best chances, 'cause if that wound up being my best chance, I'd loathe to see what I would've ended up living with you two."_

_The two parents were flabbergasted. Heck even Regina was surprised at her girlfriend's tone. She knew Emma still had some deep emotional issues to work out with her parents, even after nearly 3 years of fragile conversations. She hadn't realized how much of it had been internalized._

_Mary Margaret was nearly in tears as she pressed on. "But you should understand, Emma! Like you said, you had to give up Henry yourself! Sometimes in life you're faced with difficult choices, and you have to take one and hope that it was the right one!"_

_"I can't believe I'm hearing this!" Regina looked and saw with a pang that Emma had tear tracks running down her face. She wanted to take her girlfriend into her arms, pull her away from this, and the thought of giving the Charmings a piece of her mind wasn't far from her plans. "Difficult choice? **Difficult**? I was a freaking teenager who was stuck in jail! There was  **no way**  I could've raised Henry! It wasn't difficult, it was my only choice! Of course I'd have kept him otherwise! But that was the hand I was dealt with! You two on the other hand were handed a self-fulfilling prophecy! Just by hearing it you were convinced that I was going to be a big Savior, without considering that maybe I'm not meant to be a Saviour or never wanted this in the first place!_

_"All I wanted was a family. I had **two**  lost chances. First were the assholes who gave me up like I was an old couch after they  **finally**  got pregnant when I was 3. And then there was Neal who left me to rot in jail for his crimes. Now I've got a new chance, where I can have someone who loves me, I have my child, and parents to call my own! But  **no**! Why should Emma get her happy ending even though her supposed role in this backwards story is to give people happy endings!_

_"Let's get her parents, who are the cliche embodiment of true love to tell her who she can or can't be with!" Before anyone could react, Emma made a gesture that teleported her from the room, only leaving a cloud of white smoke behind. Although the three assumed that she left the apartment entirely, she had reappeared in her old room. She wanted to go away and be alone, but she didn't want to leave her girlfriend by herself, no matter how much she was hurting._

_David and Mary Margaret still weren't used to their daughter being able to do magic, even less that she had been taught by the very woman that was now apparently left alone with them._

_Regina knew she had to go talk to her girlfriend, so she mustered her strength to help her from pulverizing the two dunces her lover was somehow genetically related to. Had she been in a calmer state of mind, she would've felt her girlfriend's presence still in the apartment, but she only saw red as she rounded off on the Charmings._

_"Listen to me very carefully. I'm only going to say this **once**. You might hate me all you want, but your daughter loves me. I hope that for once in your lives you do the right thing and let us be, even though the probability of that happening based on past events are zero to none. So let me make one thing perfectly clear." She paused for effect, giving both an equal glare, and she had to hide a smirk at seeing their blood run cold. Oh yes, they were dealing with the Evil Queen. "If you dare try sabotage our relationship or meddle in it in any way, I swear I will burn you both into crisps, consequences be damned. Am I clear?"_

_The two were dumbfounded by the threat, but both managed a measly nod._

_Regina left them at that, and went off to find her girlfriend. Where could she have gone?_

_Hearing the door slam, Emma finally left the apartment in another puff of white smoke, wanting some time alone to herself before she broke down completely._

* * *

Emma woke up with a start. She felt a rush at having just seen this scene. Sure her parents had described most of it to her earlier, and maybe that was what had led her to have the dream that visualized said event, but this felt so much more vivid.

She lay still on her bed, looking at the ceiling. If she was only going to get bits and pieces of their relationship every night, how long would it take for both of them to get all of their memories back?

Or worse, would Regina want to wait until their memories fully returned before she took action? She knew the ex-Queen was not a patient woman. Just remembering her desperation in Neverland while they were running around in circles trying to appease Pan and find Henry with Regina snapping at them, was enough of a reminder to Emma.

She once again wondered if her wife was also getting these dreams. Were they the same as hers?

She doubted she'd find the answer anytime soon, and let out a groan.

Why did this have to so complicated? She turned onto her side, closing her eyes, and hoping that, like a movie, she'd be able to press play and have the memory continue.

But that wasn't how dreams worked, and although she fell into a deep sleep, the continuation didn't come.

At least not to her.

* * *

_Regina pushed the door to their home open, calling to Henry, hoping that her voice didn't betray her panic. Her phone was still clutched into her hand, though the countless calls she had made to the Sheriff went unanswered, she didn't want to miss the opportunity if Emma called._

_"Hey mom! How was dinner with grandpa and grandma?" Henry came bounding out of the living room, where he and Ruby were keeping the 2 years-old Neal happy. He then realized that Emma wasn't with her, and voiced it, "Where's mom?"_

_Regina didn't even answer his questions, rather just plowing on with her mission. "Henry, has Emma come here recently?"_

_The young boy shook his head. "Nope, didn't see her."_

_"Hey Regina, how did it go?" Ruby had been the only other person apart from Henry who knew the two women had been dating. After 1 year of skirting around town to be together, she and Henry finally convinced them that they should come out, even volunteering to take little Neal off of Mary Margaret and David's hands to try and make the night of news as painless and as smooth as possible._

_Just by the look on Regina's face, both could tell the night had been disastrous._

_Ruby snapped straight into action, offering to help. "Want me to come help find her? I can-"_

_But Regina shook her head. "No, thank you. Emma left in a fragile state. I just wanted to check if she's here. You can go and drop off Neal, and if I need help, I'll call."_

_Ruby nodded, giving Regina a quick hug before going back into the living room to pack things up with Neal and take him home._

_Henry rounded off back to Regina. "So mom, what's the plan?"_

_"The plan," she said, putting her free hand on Henry's shoulder, "Is that I'm going to go find your mother, wherever she decided to go hide, while you stay here in case she comes back, and call me as soon as she does, okay?"_

_He nodded solemnly, taking on his role in this mission, going over to sit beside the window in careful vigilance._

_Regina, after following Ruby out the door, teleported herself to the middle of Main Street. If there was any way to find her, she'd need to do it here. It was practically the center point for all of Storybrooke, so it was only fitting she start here._

_The road was deserted, but then again, it was late at night, mostly everyone was asleep, or at the Rabbit Hole getting drunk. She pushed the distractions out of her mind, closing her eyes as she focused her power._

_She was using a locator spell to find her girlfriend, and she needed all the concentration she could muster. This was a bit more complicated than the usual bottled potion version, and a much more advanced technique that required more than just an item from the missing person. She had never actually tried the spell, but was confident in her abilities to make it work._

_"Find me Emma Swan."_

_She opened her eyes and saw a flimsy red line flex out in front of her, looking like a piece of yarn. It started to move around before withering and disappearing._

_"No..."_

_The spell had to work, it couldn't just keel over and die! Her hands glowed a vibrant purple as her fists shook, and if anyone had been looking towards her right now, they'd have ran away to hide and cower, for the image Regina had on right now was a fearful one._

_With a bit more force, she let out, "Find. Me. Emma. Swan!"_

_Suddenly the red yarn line, that had previously been spindly and weak, was now a bright powerful line that went in a circle around her before shooting up and into the clocktower and, after a couple of seconds, disappeared._

_Although Regina let out a sigh of relief at seeing that Emma was nearby, she couldn't help but inwardly curse herself. All that effort had been for naught, she just had to turn around, go in and she would have found her._

_She went over to the library, and saw that the door was locked. Of course it was, it was the middle of the night. She waved her hand over the mechanism, and heard a click as it propped open. Heading inside, she was careful to keep her movements quiet, and her presence unknown. Although she was sure Emma wouldn't run away from her, in her state she might just run away at any sound before they could talk to each other._

_Regina felt around for the staircase that would lead her to the tower, taking careful steps. Once she reached the landing, she pushed the door open as quietly as she could. Stepping in, she felt a cool breeze from the many cracks and holes the decrepit tower had accumulated over the years. Her ears perked up at hearing someone sniffling and crying, but she saw no one._

_Emma had been training and perfecting her ability to turn invisible, and Regina was impressed with how quickly she caught on. Considering the ex-con woman was very talented at being quiet, with the invisibility spell, the amount of times she sneaked up on Regina to give her a fright were too many to count, much to her chagrin._

_Now, as she tried to determine the source of the crying, she made her way up the rickety steps to the clock, noting the noise was louder here. She stopped walking and extended her hand, closing her eyes, crouching ever so slightly. She moved forward a bit, and kept going until her hand made the faintest brush with something, and opened her eyes._

_Although it would look like she was touching nothing but air, Regina just knew she had made contact with Emma Swan's arm._

_She heard Emma sniffle a bit, and she could imagine her girlfriend looking up, probably leaving her own little world of distraction that she had been in as she had cried._

_Confident Emma wasn't going to run away, Regina crouched down before her, saying, "Hey."_

_She was sure her heart broke at hearing the soft "Hey" she got in return._

_Emma clearly had a lot to get out of her chest, so Regina just listened intently at the voice from her invisible girlfriend. "Out of all the things I've done in my life, giving Henry up is the one I regret the most. Even though it led me to you and Storybrooke, I can't help but feel like a hypocrite. They're right, I gave Henry up just as much as they gave me up. They were between a rock and a hard place with the curse, no offence."_

_Regina gave a small laugh, "No offence taken, dear. But Henry has forgiven you a long time ago. And I have no doubt that one day, you'll forgive them too."_

_Now it was Emma's turn for a chuckle as she replied, "I'd have never guessed you'd say that, I would've thought you'd be ecstatic at having split me from my parents."_

_Regina smirked playfully. "I did nothing, dear, that was all you. Besides, as I understand it, we're all doomed to deal with unbearable in-laws."_

_Her heart soared at hearing Emma full out laugh, getting Regina's smirk to widen into a genuine smile._

_"Now, are you going to turn visible so that I can kiss you?"_

_Although Regina couldn't see it, Emma nodded._

_The brunette didn't even wait until Emma was fully visible. Instead, as soon as started seeing the shadow of Emma's face, she placed a hand on either side of it before pulling the blonde towards her, joining them at the lips._

* * *

As Emma entered the Station, she could hear two voices arguing, and making her way towards the main office, the voices became more distinguishable. With her new memory fresh in her mind, she mentally winced as she heard her dad trading verbal blows with her supposed wife.

"I will do as I very well please, Charming. I refuse to be tied down in something I have no knowledge of!"

"Are you blind? Do you not see the ample proof staring at you right in the face?"

"That's exactly the point! There is way too much proof! This seems like a setup!"

As Emma got closer, she heard her dad give a sardonic laugh. "Blame yourselves for being overly sentimental and making up for 12 years of not being together. Believe me Regina, you were most definitely not my first choice for a suitable partner for Emma. But I grew into it and saw the love you had for one another. Surely if I can come to terms with that, you can see it too?"

She entered the room, and cleared her throat, getting both to turn to face her.

"Ah, Ms. Swan." Regina walked over to her, and Emma was once again reminded of how graceful she always looked, despite what the situation was. She stopped right in front of her and handed her a large envelope. "I expect these signed on my desk by tomorrow morning as I have no further wish to continue playing the part of the fool in this farce. Good day."

The Mayor swerved around Emma, who was rooted on the spot. After a few seconds of being frozen, dumbfounded by what had just transpired, she scrambled to open the envelope, her heart sinking at realizing just what she was holding.

Without even thinking, she ran after Regina, her hand crumpling the envelope and papers a bit. As she pushed the doors open and went outside, Emma caught the Mayor just as she was entering her car.

"DIVORCE PAPERS?!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! Lots of drama huh?
> 
> Unfortunately I can't promise any less drama in the next chapter, but we'll see!
> 
> This chapter was a bit more memory focused, but next chapter will be more in the present times, so we'll see how it goes!
> 
> Also as a little fun fact for everyone, the red yarn line is a reference to the red string/thread of fate, which hints at people who are destined to meet and/or are soulmates. Though popular internet theories kinda skewed it to call it the invisible red line which seems kind of silly to me because if it's invisible, you can't exactly see if it's red or not.
> 
> But that's where it comes from!
> 
> Meanwhile, I'll leave everyone stewing with the idea of Regina's divorce papers, cue the dramatic music!
> 
> Feedback is always extremely appreciated!


	3. The Proposition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm baaack!
> 
> Everyone's yelling about the divorce papers so I think that the sooner I update to save people the stress, the better.
> 
> I hope everyone enjoys this chapter!

"Yes Ms. Swan, I assume you're well-aware of what divorce papers are and how they work?"

Emma was flabbergasted. "Of course I do. I just don't understand why you want to get a divorce."

Regina got out of her car, going to stand dangerously close to the blonde. "As I was telling your idiotic father, I have no desire to be part of something I have no memory of. In my mind, we're not married in the least bit, so why keep up this ridiculous farce?"

"Come on Regina!" Emma was not fazed, matching the brunette's glare and standing her ground within the other woman's personal space. Their eyes never wavered from looking at one another as Emma continued, "Just give it a chance, please? I'm sure you've been having memories appear in your dreams, just as mine have."

"That means nothing to me." Regina was ready to brush the matter off, but Emma persisted.

"Oh really? So what, you think signing our divorce papers will get your subconscious to stop delivering your memories?"

In a historic moment, Regina was left speechless.

Emma sighed, relieving Regina of the stress of having to make up some ridiculous response to have the final word. "Look, I have a proposition for you."

Regina quirked an eyebrow up. "I'm listening."

Emma took the little victories as they came, and took a deep breath before plowing on. "How about a date? Just you and me, to at least try and see if we're compatible. If it all goes to hell at the end of it, I'll sign your papers the very next day, they'll be on your desk first thing in the morning, I promise. But please Regina, my memories are just as lost as you are, and I know neither one of us could've predicted this outcome, but give it a chance?"

The brunette finally broke eye contact, stepping back from their intense stand-off. "One date? Then you will end this entire ridiculous joke and we never mention it again?"

The younger woman knew she was playing a dangerous game. Regina was the champion of locking up her emotions, she could bet that the other woman would do her darn best to prevent the date from going Emma's way. But she had to try. "Yes."

"Very well. Tonight?"

Emma flashed a smile and nodded. "Yes ma'am! I'll pick you up at 7?"

"That sounds good, I'll see you then, Ms. Swan."

* * *

"Well you were able to charm her pants off once, you can do it again."

Emma was sitting on a stool in front of the diner's counter, forehead resting on her arms, resting on the counter top. Ruby was trying to cheer up her friend, but with little success.

"I mean, you got another date with her, that's one win for you."

The blonde finally dragged her head up, glaring at Ruby. "Seriously? I'd hardly count it as a win if the only reason she's doing this is to get me to sign divorce papers."

The waitress nodded reluctantly. "True. What's the plan?"

Emma grimaced. "That's the problem. I have less than 5 hours to come up with the perfect date to sweep her off her feet."

"Ruby!" Granny glared at her granddaughter, making gestures from the kitchen that she should be doing less talking, more serving.

"And that's my cue. You keep thinking of ideas and we can brainstorm later."

As Emma was left alone with her thoughts, she tried to figure out what to do.

"Hey mom!" The blonde looked up and saw her son striding over to her. She still had to do a double take at seeing how Henry looked now, so much taller and maturer than when she last saw him.

"Hey kid, how was school?"

"It was alright, same stuff as always I guess. But at least I didn't do an epic fail of math today."

Mother and son grinned, both of them well aware math was never a strong suit for either of them.

Henry noticed that his mom looked glum, and decided to approach the topic. "Everything alright, mom?"

Emma's sigh told him that whatever it was, it wasn't good. He wasn't expecting it to be that bad though. "Your mom handed me divorce papers this morning."

"Wait what?" Her kid's eyes bugged out. "But you two can't give up now! Once your memories come back everything will make sense again!"

"I know kid, I know. I tried to reason with her. I did eventually get somewhat through to her, and managed to set up a wager. I'm taking her on a date tonight, and if I don't manage to sweep her off her feet, I'll sign those papers."

Henry's heart sunk. Things weren't looking good for his mothers.

Emma kept trying to shush out the voice in her head that doubted that she and Regina would ever get back together because, let's face it, they hadn't  _ever_  had the best of relations in the time they knew each other. She was having a hard time believing that they were really a thing ever since she got the divorce papers. The blonde looked at Henry, and saw her son's sadness; she knew she should do her best, even if it was just for her son's sake.

She gripped his shoulder tightly as she said, "Hey kid. Even if we do get divorced, it'll only be temporary okay? When we get our memories back, I'm sure your mom will come to her senses. Plus you know we both still love you."

Henry smiled. He knew his mom was putting on a show of bravado for him, but he hoped it did come true. "So, any ideas? Oh! Are you going to try and recreate your first real date?"

Emma let out a laugh at her son's enthusiasm. "Real date? Did we have a fake date before that?"

"No, but you guys were keeping your relationship a secret for the first year or so, so you two had dinners at home. Then after you guys came out to say you were dating each other, you two went on a real first date."

She nodded, on one hand amused at their antics, on the other hand, she was angry. Angry that she didn't know even the first thing about their lives together and had to rely on third parties to fill in the blanks. She wanted her memories back so badly. "So what did we do for our real first date?"

"Everything! You guys went to the movies, dinner, the park, there was even the Lights Festival at the time so you went to that too, you told me you wanted to do everything with mom that you couldn't do before. And then at the end you proposed to her."

Emma blinked. "Must've been one long and busy night."

"Oh it was." Ruby was back. "Even after the date was done and you two went home to celebrate."

The blonde blushed profusely, even more at the salacious wink Ruby threw at her. Henry, for his part, was clearly old enough now to understand the reference, putting on a face of disgust and letting out an "EW!"

Emma cleared her throat. "Well that's definitely not going to cut it, there's no fairs and I'm pretty sure Regina will tear me a new one if it looks like I'm stalling." She tried to think for a bit, and then got an idea. "How about just a fancy dinner?"

Ruby and Henry shared a look. "It could work, but Storybrooke only has that stuffy place on Winston Avenue."

Emma shook her head. "Nah, I had something different in mind."

Henry was confused. "Like what?"

"There are places outside of Storybrooke we could go to."

* * *

Emma searched up restaurants for a nice dinner, and finally settled on a popular and fancy seafood restaurant just a couple of towns over. Although she was sure Regina was bound to dress super elegant, she wanted to make sure the older woman was aware of their supposed attire just in case.

She tapped her phone to switch tabs, and saw that she and Regina had their own text thread. The longest one on her phone from the looks of it.

Glancing over at the last few messages, she noticed that they were made on the night of the accident.

Regina had apparently taken the leap to write the first message.

**Regina: Emma, we really need to talk, can you please come home tonight?**

**Emma: I'm in the middle of a case.**

**Regina: But there's a thunderstorm out there!**

**Emma: Crime doesn't hold for the weather to clear up.**

**Regina: Well where are you? I'll meet you there.**

**Emma: I'll pass by your house in a few.**

Emma felt a pang at reading the thread. From the looks of it, Regina had angered Emma somehow. It would explain why she had clothes at her parents' house. She wondered what they had been fighting about. The texts didn't give any clue, but she hoped things had been patched up before the accident.

She then remembered that right before she woke up at the hospital, she had a dream of driving a car, it swerved due to the inclement weather outside, and someone grabbed her hand. That must've been the accident, she realized with a pang.

The blonde remembered what she had been intending to do, and scrolled to the bottom of the thread. She noted there that there had been an additional message, but it failed to send.

**Emma: I love you so much.**

Emma took a deep breath and wrote out a message to Regina, simple but clear.

* * *

Regina looked up from her desk where she had been filling out a form, to see her phone signal that she had a new message.

It hadn't even crossed her mind to check her phone to see what messages it showed, but as she opened Emma's text, she let out a soft gasp.

There had to be thousands of messages on her phone from the blonde, and as she quickly scrolled by them, she saw that she herself answered Emma's compliments and declarations of love with messages that were equally mushy. Although Regina was still on edge, she allowed herself to smile at this, it felt like a wonderful relationship.

As she got to the end, she realized that this must've been the incident that they had argued about, with the exploding vase.

The newest message was curt, Emma must've clearly seen this thread, and didn't want to sound like she was trying to be loving.

**Emma: For tonight, wear a dress.**

Now Regina was curious, certainly the Chef's Cuisine didn't require a fancy dress code, even less so Granny's diner, though the Rabbit Hole's patrons would appreciate a woman in a fine dress. But Regina was certain that the blonde wouldn't have picked out the latter establishment, not if she still wanted a chance to be married to her.

Not that anything would get her to change her mind, she wasn't going to enjoy this at all, since she knew she held no love for Emma. She could tell the blonde was trying hard, but felt that Emma's own confidence in their relationship was waning. Having to endure one date would be painless, she'd had to endure a lot worse while being Leopold's wife. Even later in life, she always got what she wanted, no matter the price.

This would be a walk in the park.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up, date #1!
> 
> Well it's actually going to be date #2, the present date, but worry not, the date that Henry mentions in this chapter will get its own spotlight in a couple of chapters!
> 
> I hope this chapter was entertaining for everyone, it's a bit filler-ish, but I'm getting things set up. Please let me know what you think!


	4. The Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright here we go! One order of amnesiac wives going on a date coming right up! More than 5,000 words of it!
> 
> I hope everyone likes this, it was a total blast to write it!
> 
> Also my knowledge of wines is very very limited, so everyone can just nod and pretend I'm a wine connoisseur, and totally know what I'm talking about and we'll all end up happy.

Emma took a deep breath, hoping that she wasn't setting herself up for a night of disaster. She looked once more at the reflection in the mirror, and smiled at what she saw. Despite the years that had gone by, she was still rocking her body, and could pull off looking stunning in a dress effortlessly. Despite her tendency to dress for mobility and practicality, she could clean up nicely, and hoped that Regina would be impressed.

What Emma was banking to floor her hopefully-not but potentially soon-to-be ex-wife was the upgrade with her car. Thankfully that tragic night they had both been in a cruiser, so Emma's actual car was intact for this.

She twirled the car keys and grabbed her clutch. Making sure that she had everything, she went downstairs where her parents and little Neal were waiting, looking a lot like a family seeing someone off to war. Granted, going on a date with an amnesiac ex-Evil Queen didn't exactly sound like a walk in the park. But Emma wouldn't let her nerves get the best of her. She had done this once before, she could certainly do it again.

"Well, I'm off," Emma declared, standing in front of the trio, trying to show the bravado that she didn't have.

"Goo' luck!" Neal piped up, grinning widely up at her. He wasn't even aware of what was really going on, but that didn't stop the toddler from trying to cheer on his big sister.

Emma grinned right back at him, and kneeled to give him a big hug.

Once she stood back up, Mary Margaret tried to give her an assuring smile. "Don't worry if everything doesn't work out. This is going to be temporary, I'm sure once you and Regina get your memories back, you two will go right back to being married."

Emma took a deep breath, thinly-veiled disbelief all over her face. "I hope so."

"Well at least you'll be outside of Storybrooke, so Regina won't be able to fireball you." David added good-naturedly.

"I didn't pick something outside of Storybrooke because of that. I just wanted something nice, and Storybrooke doesn't exactly offer that."

David hummed, and then said, "Well I hear Tiana is trying to get the permits approved so she can get her restaurant up and going."

Emma chuckled, "I don't really have time for bureaucracy to take care of that."

Both her parents smiled at that, and Mary Margaret then saw the time and started to shoo her out. "Now go go, you only have 10 minutes, you don't want to be late! First impressions are everything! Though I suppose you two are on your third first impressions by now."

* * *

Regina was almost ready. After spending an eternity and a half searching for a perfect dress - not that she was being picky about what to dress for this date; no, she just felt like she had to be at her most presentable that's all - she was now trying to find a purse. All of her things had shifted from before to where they were now, and she was sure a certain blonde moving in was the cause of that. So searching for things proved to be extra difficult.

After a bit of rummaging she found one. Opening it, she checked the pockets for any leftover receipts or papers she might've forgotten, and was curiously faced with an epi-pen. To say she was puzzled would be an understatement. Neither she nor Henry were allergic to anything, so why did she have it?

Just before she was going to discard it, she heard the doorbell ring. Deciding that she would dispose of it later, musing that there probably had to be a proper way to throw it out, and in a rush right now was not the answer. She threw it back in the purse and got her things ready, taking a deep breath.

Just a couple of hours of dealing with Emma Swan and then she could go back to her normal life.

It'd be over before she knew it.

* * *

Emma was standing in front of Regina's porch, after having just rung the doorbell, waiting. Granted she could just invite herself in, seeing as she had a key that she was sure would open the door in front of her, but right now, she wasn't in the role of Emma Swan-Mills, she was just Emma Swan, trying to win her wife back, despite feeling just as lost and discombobulated about this entire fiasco as Regina.

The door opened and her smile faltered as she saw Henry opening the door, instead of her date.

"Not that I'm not glad to see you kid, but where is your mom?"

Henry grinned at her as if he knew a secret. "She's changing, of course, she's been taking apart her closet for the past half hour."

Emma couldn't help but grin in return. Regina Mills was raiding her closet to find something suitable to wear for a date with  _her_? This gave her a spark of hope that maybe, just maybe, Regina wasn't out to be the impossible date in order to get a stack of freshly signed divorce papers on her desk tomorrow morning. Maybe she was giving this a chance.

"Aren't you going to at least come in? This is your house too you know?" Henry's voice brought Emma out of her musings and she looked at her teenage son.

"Right, of course." This was the first time she had been in here since the accident, and she had to school her features to not let her jaw drop too much. There were pictures everywhere of the three of them, and she could see, even in just the ones closest to her, that they were happy. They were a family, the one thing all three of them had always wanted and dreamed of.

"Ms. Swan, you're early." She whipped around at hearing Regina's voice, and she had to double her efforts in keeping her jaw in place, because damn was she gorgeous.

"I uhm, yeah, I wanted to make sure I was on time." Emma grinned, taking in the beauty before her.

Regina was clad in a midnight-blue dress that brushed her knees, and sparkled with sequins and glitter. The brunette made her way down the rest of the stairs, sashaying her hips, and stood in front of her date, a playful smirk quirking at her lips at seeing the slack-jawed expression Emma was sporting.

After a few moments, Emma broke out of her reverie, and smiled. "Ready?"

Regina nodded, and then looked at her son. "Now remember-"

Henry sighed and rolled his eyes, before reciting, "Don't open the door to anyone, don't go out unless you have a very good reason, and if so - leave a note so that you know, no staying up playing video games, finish my homework, and no parties."

Regina was impressed. Granted the last point was new, but then again, Henry was 3 years older than what she remembered. She only hoped that the need for that rule was precautionary, rather than to prevent a repeating incident. "And call me if you need anything."

He grinned as he responded, "Don't worry mom, I have both your numbers on speed dial."

It took Regina a second to remember that despite her saying 'me', Henry took it to mean Emma as well. It was going to take some getting used to. She went to give Henry a quick kiss on his forehead, and then he went upstairs to his room, not before giving Emma a quick hug, leaving both women standing alone in the foyer.

"So, shall we get going?" Emma asked, holding out her arm for Regina to take.

Regina ignored the offered arm and leveled her date with a glare. "Ms. Swan, we might be amnesiac right now, but I have not turned into an idiot. So don't think for a second that I will enter that death trap you call a car anytime soon."

"Well, Your Majesty, if you were to look outside for a minute, you'll be happy to note the 'death trap' has retired." Emma smirked, moving her arm back down. Check and mate.

"Oh." Regina at least had enough grace to look a bit flustered at that.

Feeling emboldened, Emma asked, "Can I request something?"

Regina cocked her head in surprise. This was new. "No guarantees it'll be granted, but yes."

"Can you drop the whole 'Ms. Swan' thing? Honestly, we're going to a date, and I know it's a defense mechanism for you, calling people by their last names, but it's just going to be the two of us, and of course a couple hundred strangers." Emma hoped that her puppy-dog eyes worked their charm.

Regina felt a pang as she remembered the memory from the first night after the accident, how Emma said the same thing about the whole defense mechanism. When had she become so easy to read? But she supposed she could acquiesce with this for tonight. "Very well, Emma."

Emma grinned like a child at that, and held her arm out again. "Now come on, we need to get to the restaurant in time."

Regina took the arm, albeit a bit reluctantly at first, as she let the words sink in, and from what Emma had said before. Where in the world were they going?

* * *

15 minutes later and Regina saw the approaching orange line. Emma was taking them out of town for this? She was silently impressed.

The ride had been quiet up till now, looks were sneaked when they thought the other wasn't looking, but both women could tell when they were being looked at, and they both shyly smiled every time.

The second after they passed the line, Regina let out a sharp hiss. Although she tried to play it off with a cough, Emma noticed and veered off to the shoulder before braking immediately, twisting to look at her companion. "Are you okay?"

Regina just nodded, trying to wave off the worry. "Yes dear, I'm fine."

Emma didn't believe that for a second, and touched Regina's upper arm gently, getting the brunette to look at her. In the softest voice she could muster, she said, "No you're not. Is this about the town line crossing?"

Knowing she was not going to fool the ever infallible lie detector, she sighed and said, not daring to look at Emma's eyes, "Just passing over the town line rips my magic away quite forcefully, that's all."

"Oh." Emma said, always with the lack of tact, not missing Regina's refusal to look her in the eyes. She knew she should at least try to show Regina that she was sorry about it. "I'm really sorry Regina, I didn't know. Should I have driven slower?"

Regina shook her head. "No, it's alright. I just...magic has always been a big part of me. Having it taken away with such a force is like having a band-aid ripped away quickly. I'll be fine in a bit."

Emma rubbed Regina's arm unconsciously, drawing lazy circles with her thumb. "If you say so. But if you start feeling nauseous or want me to turn around just let me know, okay?"

Regina nodded, shooting a small grateful smile. Who'd have thought Emma Swan would prove to be so caring? Wait, she must not be thinking straight, since when was she calling Emma caring? Probably must be a side effect from passing through. It was only then that she noticed Emma's hand on her arm. She cleared her throat and took her arm back.

Emma for her part just cleared her throat as well and went back to driving, neither wanting to address what had just happened. So after a few minutes, she asked, "So, why does it affect you so much? I mean, for all intents and purposes I have magic too, but I don't feel anything."

"I believe it must be because you're not so attached to magic as I am. For me, magic is like another sense. Imagine if you lost one of your senses, it'd feel different, don't you think?"

The blonde hummed, and nodded. "Yeah, makes sense."

The brunette thought about it for another second, and added, "I imagine it's also because you grew up in this world. Although Storybrooke was without magic for 28 years, the air is still very different than what this world is like."

Emma just nodded once more and continued driving, falling into that awkward silence for the umpteenth time so far.

After a few more minutes, the blonde cleared her throat and stole a glance towards Regina. "By the way, you look gorgeous."

Regina felt her face heat up with the strength of a hundred suns. "Th-thank you," was the shaky reply, before adding, taking the opportunity to look at Emma's heart-stopping red dress, "You look beautiful as well."

Now both women were blushing, desperately looking anywhere but each other.

* * *

By the time they reached the restaurant, they were glad for the distraction, neither were sure how they would survive one more minute inside the car. But they couldn't say they had found reprieve quite yet, after all, they were headed into a restaurant for their date.

Emma went to help Regina out of her car, once more offered an arm, and much to her surprise, the brunette once more took said arm, and they walked into the restaurant together. The blonde held the door open for Regina to pass through, earning a shy 'thank you' in response.

The lady inside the restaurant flashed a smile at them, standing behind her podium. "Welcome to the Lake House. Do you have a reservation?"

Emma nodded. "Yep, it should be under Emma Swan."

The lady went to check on her list, and found the name. With a nod she looked at something else on her podium, and then grabbed two menus. "Alright, follow me."

In no time at all they were seated across from each other in a quiet booth, soft light illuminating the area around them, with background music and muffled conversations making up the ambience sound.

"Good evening, and welcome to the Lake House, record-holder of being Maine's most exquisite destination for fine seafood. My name is Vincent, and I'll be your server. Can I get you ladies started on any drinks?" The waiter, a young man dressed in slacks and a dress shirt, completed with a pristine vest, stood in front of their table, waiting for their response.

Emma looked at the woman sitting across from her. Was she expected to choose, would they each choose their individual drinks, or should she just let Regina choose? She went for the vague answer, one that would provide ample time for Regina to butt in if she wanted something different, and also didn't explicitly say whether she was ordering for herself or both of them. "Uhm, some wine would be great."

Vincent clearly assumed she was speaking for both of them as he replied, "Very well, what kind would you ladies prefer?"

Giving Regina a loaded look, the older woman took the hint and responded, "Some Pinot Grigio would be excellent."

The waiter bowed his head a bit and left them to fetch the beverage and leave them time to choose their meal.

After a few seconds of silence - a quite common occurrence during this date so far - Emma said, "Sorry if it seemed like I was choosing for you, but I know you like some good wine and I figured you would otherwise have just corrected me and ordered the drink you wanted."

Thankfully, it seemed Regina hadn't minded. "It's quite alright, I'd have considered it as such if you had ordered everything by yourself, but I assumed from your glare you were relegating the other half of the choosing to me, so I consider it to have been a fair choice."

Emma smiled and went back to looking at her menu. Maybe, just maybe, this will be able to work out.

* * *

After they finished placing their orders, Emma took a small sip of her wine, feeling bold enough to start a conversation.

"This feels weird, huh?"

Regina, who had been doing a stellar job of admiring the entire restaurant and ignoring the woman in front of her, now looked towards her date with a raised eyebrow. "Pardon?"

"You, me, this date, the fact we both have amnesia?" Emma clarified. She then sighed and continued, "This is the kind of things you see on TV shows, or -or..."

"Fantastical stories?" Regina supplied with a smirk.

Emma smiled at that. "Yeah, that too."

Regina was the first to get our of her reverie, and responded with, "Well I completely agree, which was why I was trying to get you to sign those papers. Despite all that my house, our own son, and everyone in that town is blaring, I don't feel married to you. I feel..." Here she paused, before shaking her head and continuing. "Never mind. The point is, that we have to stop kidding ourselves. I have no idea why we married or how we fell for each other, and perhaps if or when we get our memories back, it'll make sense, but for now this feels like a farce. Or since you don't like that word, an arrangement."

It was true, Emma didn't like the word 'farce' coupled with their supposed marriage, but she supposed that for Regina, that's what she thought about this. She swallowed hard as she processed everything the woman across from her had said. "Then what happens after I sign the papers? We just go our separate ways and wait for our memories to come back?"

"Precisely." She knew Emma wasn't happy with this idea, she could just see it in the hazel eyes that were staring at her with a mix of confusion and hurt, along with the slightest bit of anger mixing in. The ring, the one Emma still wore, was glinting under the warm light, and it took everything in her power to not look at it, to not feel guilty for not wearing her own as well. Emma was in the exact same position as her, but the blonde was making an effort, she was trying to see this marriage as an actual thing. But for Regina, this reminded her too much of her marriage to Leopold. Once more she found herself married to someone, and that discombobulated feeling from having decisions thrust on her without her consent was something she never wanted to experience again. Although Emma was the farthest thing from Leopold, and she hoped there was no nefarious plan behind this, she can't help but wonder, and worry.

Before they could say anything else, their food had arrived.

"Bon Appetit," Vincent smiled after setting down the plates, leaving the two women with their steaming plates of food, and a tension in the air that would need an industrial sized saw to cut through it.

The two got ready to dig in, and Emma asked, "And what are we supposed to tell Henry?"

"The truth of course. He is a teenager now, I'm sure he'll understand," Regina shrugged the matter off, grabbing her utensil and digging into the lobster.

Emma watched as Regina did the impossible, eating a lobster with grace. Grabbing her fork, Emma was about to start eating her own, but paused, staring at Regina, despite the fact that the woman was focused on her own plate. "He might understand, but that doesn't mean he'll be happy about it. He was devastated when I told him about the divorce papers..."

Now Regina did look up, and her glare was all Evil Queen. She leaned a bit forward towards Emma and hissed, "I would've expected it from the Charmings, but are you seriously stooping so low as to try to use Henry against me so we will remain married?"

The blonde paused, mouth partially open ready to take her first bite. She put the fork down a bit and her eyes widened. "What? No! No Regina, I would never do that to you-"

"Oh really? Isn't that the entire purpose of this date? To force me into still being with you?" Regina asked with a scowl.

"No it's not!" Emma sighed, putting her fork down once more, for the third time. At this rate her food was going to get cold. "Look, this date was because I was hoping that maybe, having the two of us in a vaguely romantic setting would maybe get you to reconsider the divorce papers, but like I said, if at the end of tonight you tell me your mind hasn't changed, I'll accept it and give you the papers tomorrow morning as promised. I'm not going to hold you against your will to get you to drop those papers." Emma then smirked as she added, "Not that I think I'd be able to, you'd roast me before I even tried."

Regina had to return the smirk with an amused chuckle. Then she grew serious again as she asked, "Then what did you mean in regards to Henry?"

"Despite him being a teenager...having the home situation change drastically isn't easy for any kid." Emma here was speaking from experience, remembering just how she felt every time she was sat down by her current foster parents and told she had to go back. "So I'm just saying that we should try to phrase it in such a way that it doesn't seem like we're not considering the fact that he'll be affected or hurt by this."

Regina thought about it for a couple of seconds while Emma finally managed to start eating. She was about to open her mouth to give her two cents, when she hear Emma's fork clatter on the plate.

Something was wrong.

Specifically in regards to Emma.

She was choking.

She was banging on the table and scratching at her throat wildly, eyes wide open with a half-crazed look on them.

Regina barely managed to snap out of her reverie and yelled out, "She's choking! Someone help!"

Chaos erupted around them as she scrambled out of her seat and went to the other side of the booth to get Emma closer to the mouth of the booth so the table wouldn't be restricting her. Emma meanwhile was red in the face as her arms and hands made wild gestures like she was trying to thump out the food in her throat. She was starting to break out in hives, lips becoming puffy as her air supply was becoming dangerously low.

Some other patrons were trying to help, calling 911.

"Does anyone have an epi-pen?" Someone yelled out, and Regina remembered the little stick in her purse. She fumbled wildly for it, before she found it, grabbed the pen, and in a few seconds, she injected the contents into Emma's leg.

The scene calmed down as Regina took Emma into her arms, and they practically collapsed into one of the booth's seats. Emma was shaking in her arms, taking in long gulps of air. Regina meanwhile had one arm rubbing slow circles on Emma's arm, while the other stroked her hair.

After a few minutes, the paramedics arrived.

So much for a quiet and relaxed dinner.

* * *

After nearly 2 hours of fussing and check-ups with the paramedics, Emma and Regina were on their way back to Storybrooke, Regina was driving this time, and Emma was like a ragdoll, feeling like her body was all out of sorts.

They had hardly spoken, except for Regina's periodic 'how are you feeling?' only to get a curt monosyllabic response from the blonde.

Emma looked at Regina, noting how tense the brunette seemed. She had royally fucked up. When in the world had she become allergic to shellfish? Though she supposed it wasn't recent, seeing as Regina had an epi-pen in her purse, as she was later informed. "Thanks."

Regina gave a quick glance to the blonde. This was the first time in an hour that Emma had prompted to start the conversation, but she was confused, "For what?"

Emma shrugged, looking out the window. "Everything really. Having the epi-pen, keeping me company to the point of not leaving my side, and calming me."

Regina sighed, and they once more veered to the shoulder as she stopped the car. She looked at Emma, and put her hand on the blonde's chin, getting Emma to look at her. "Look, Emma, despite everything we've been through, I do care about you. From where our memories left off, I would like to think that we were beginning to have a friendship, as well as being two parents trying to raise their child. Despite my feelings towards your parents, please don't think that you are automatically also held in that regard. You are one of the few people, the other being Henry, who actually believes that I can change - or has changed. Besides, you were going through anaphylactic shock, you can't honestly think I'd have left you."

Emma smiled, but her mind was already preparing a list of all the foster parents and then-friends who had left her while she bled from wounds, vomited, had a cold, among a whole slew of other examples. None were life-threatening, but it still led Emma to believe people didn't really care about the ailments of others in general. "But still, thanks. I hope you don't mind me asking, but why  _did_  you have an epi-pen? Is Henry allergic to something?" Knowing her luck, Emma would be unaware that her son would have severe allergies.

But Regina shook her head. "Not that I know of. I actually found it in my purse, and had been thinking of throwing it out, but you rang the bell and I decided I'd do it later."

The blonde chuckled. "Well then, I'll be thanking my good timing for saving my life - for once. So does that mean I've had this before?"

"I would guess so," Regina replied, though she hated that it seemed like it was the case. Going through this once must be hard enough on Emma. But twice? "You weren't allergic to shellfish before?"

"Not that I know of. Then again, I was never the type to eat lobster too often, so perhaps it's been the case for a while but I never realized it because of that."

"I see."

Once more the silence settled, and Regina went back to driving.

When they were nearing Storybrooke, Emma looked over to Regina, "I can drive through the line if you want."

"It's quite alright dear, I'll be fine."

Emma wasn't sure if Regina was just acting, but there was no reaction from the brunette as they crossed the town line. The car didn't swerve, and she didn't even flinch or make a peep.

Regina broke the silence by saying, "I will drop you off at the Charming's apartment and you can pick up the car tomorrow."

"Wait what? Regina I'm perfectly capable of driving."

"Please dear, don't insult my intelligence. I will not, in good conscience, allow you to operate this vehicle or any other, and I have to get back home somehow."

"Then just park the car at your house and I'll walk over."

"Honestly, what is your problem with me dropping you off?"

Instead of answering right away, Emma sighed, and fidgeted with the hem of her dress. Then, in the meekest voice Regina had heard Emma speak in, she said, "I'd rather not have to answer my parent's third degree over how the date went."

And then Regina understood, and she changed course. "I have guest rooms available, you can sleep there tonight."

Emma whipped around to look at Regina, and flashed a grateful smile, though she was sure the brunette wouldn't see it. "Thanks."

Regina did.

* * *

As soon as Emma was shown the room, Regina asked if she needed anything.

"No, I'm good." Emma bit her lip as she saw the brunette nod and make her way out of the room. "Wait, actually..."

"Yes?" Regina came to stand once more in front of the blonde, taking note of the lip biting.

"About tonight...I know it was a disaster, and I won't even ask you for your verdict, but since I obviously don't have the papers to sign now, they'll be a bit late. You'll still get them tomorrow though. Is that okay?"

"No, it's not."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haaaa okay who had seen the allergic reaction coming?
> 
> I know, I'm evil for the ending. Next chapter will be the past date!
> 
> Also big plot solution to another [secondary] problem was revealed in the chapter, can you guess what it was? Hint: the problem was revealed in a flashback.


	5. The Perfect Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're back! More from this story with two amnesiac stubborn women.
> 
> But this chapter will feature their first real date that Henry had mentioned. I know you guys kinda have an outline for what transpired, but showing is better than telling!
> 
> Some parts might seem familiar from their date in the previous chapter, but I just wanted to show a sort of mirror to differentiate them in love vs. them trying to not care too much.
> 
> Flashback will be in italics, just to make it clear, though it'll all be in one chunk, sandwiched by the present story.
> 
> And we're reaching something of a turning point in the story, so I hope everyone enjoys!
> 
> Also there is plenty of fluff.

"No?" Emma asked, raising her eyebrows in confusion. Had she messed up that badly?

"I...I'm willing to give you another chance... to wait, so to speak, on finalizing the papers."

Emma felt a smile break out at hearing the brunette's words, reading between the lines to know what she was actually implying. "Really?"

Regina looked down, before responding, "Yes, now if you'll excuse me, I'm sure that we're both very tired..."

She didn't know what possessed her to grab Regina's wrist, and stopping her from leaving, but when she saw the dark brown eyes look at her inquisitively, Emma smiled softly and said, "Thank you. We'll figure this out together, okay?"

The older woman returned the smile in kind, and nodded. "Okay."

* * *

It took a while for both women to fall asleep actually, and although they didn't know it, they were both up reading their texts to the other, trying to sort out their feelings.

For Emma, it had seemed impossible at first that they could be together, but the memories she had been getting for the past few days, all the signs, and the ring, it all showed that the impossible now was trying to ignore it. She couldn't do it, and she had hoped and wished that Regina wouldn't panic and run. Emma knew very well what it was like, choosing to go with what she knew rather than face something new, but she was determined to be better, to not run for once in her life, especially from something that could be great and amazing. She was ecstatic that Regina seemed to be rethinking everything, or at least having let up on the divorce.

As for Regina, she was terrified. Her first marriage to Leopold had scarred her from ever falling in love again, and here she was, falling for the daughter of her supposed mortal enemies. Again. It was clear that pre-amnesia Regina was head over heels for Emma. She could tell by how the messages in the beginning -that she remembered having sent - were formal and curt, to how they eventually turned to heartfelt, and adorably sincere.

At one point both women reached a point that they recognized, the night they revealed their relationship to Emma's parents.

**Emma: So we're still good for tonight right?**

**Regina: We promised ourselves we would dear. We can't back out now.**

**Emma: Yeah I know...MM's been hounding me and asking me why we want to talk without Neal there**

**Regina: What did you tell her?**

**Emma: Well I can't say 'because we're coming out to you guys and expecting a shitstorm', so I just said it was town stuff.**

**Regina: And they believed that? They honestly believed that we wanted to dine with them for that?**

**Emma: Yep.**

**Regina: No offense dear, but your parents are idiots.**

**Emma: :O You wound me [broken heart]**

**Regina: You are such a Drama Queen.**

**Emma: Says the ex-Evil Queen.**

**Emma: Pot meet kettle**

**Regina: You are insufferable.**

**Emma: But you love me. Admit it**

**Regina: ...**

**Emma: Oh come on!**

**Regina: Fine, I love you, dear.**

The messages then stopped for a number of hours, until a flurry of constant texts from Regina, frantically trying to reach Emma, went unanswered. Emma hoped that the conclusion to that episode ended well, and as she kept scrolling, she saw that the next day they seemed to be back to the normal playful bantering.

Then a bit further down they reached a part that puzzled them in tandem.

**Regina: Are you sure you can't even give me a hint?**

**Emma: Nope, my lips are sealed, and you can't try to get answers from Henry or Ruby.**

**Regina: Darn, there goes my dastardly evil plot.**

**Emma: One step ahead of you! Just give in and let yourself be surprised.**

**Regina: It's a week of waiting dear, you can't expect me to not get curious.**

**Emma: I promise you, you'll love it :D**

**Regina: Knowing you're planning it, I'm sure I will, but I still want to know.**

**Emma: Impatient aren't we?**

**Emma: By the way, Madam Mayor, weren't you supposed to be in the middle of a meeting right now?**

**Regina: Unlike you dear, I know how to multitask. Besides, I am taking careful notes. Theodore is currently talking about the Lights Festival set to happen this weekend.**

**Emma: Oh right it is!**

**Regina: See? The Mayor is more well-informed than the Sheriff, doesn't that tell you something?**

**Emma: That I should be in that meeting and being privileged of getting to look at your gorgeous face for an hour? Because if so I'll be on my way there.**

**Regina: Alas, most town meetings do not require the Sheriff.**

**Emma: :(**

**Emma: :'(**

**Emma: D':**

**Regina: Your maturity knows no bounds.**

**Regina: ...If I let you join me for lunch, will you stop moping?**

**Emma: Yep! What do you want me to get you?**

**Regina: Surprise me dear.**

* * *

_Regina opened the bathroom door and saw Emma struggling with the zipper of her dress. "Here dear, let me."_

_The blonde's shoulders sagged as she relaxed from her attempts, bringing her arms to her side, letting Regina easily take over the task. "Can you believe it? We're finally going out on a date. In public."_

_"Indeed. You still haven't told me where we're going." Regina zipped up the dress and placed a kiss on Emma's shoulder, running her hands down her girlfriend's bare arms._

_Emma turned around and winked. "But that would ruin the surprise. Now come on. You have to lecture our son on the do's and don't's, and I need to grab my clutch," she kissed Regina on the lips and wrapped her arms around the shorter woman's waist. All Emma could think about was how lucky she was._

_When they broke apart, Regina gave Emma a shrewd smile and went to Henry's room._

_"So, you guys are ready to go?" Henry asked, looking up from his homework and seeing his mom standing in his doorway._

_Regina nodded, her excitement for this night reaching astronomical levels to the point where she didn't think she would be able to respond with a coherent answer. She was actually beginning to think she was going to squeal, in a truly uncharacteristic move from herself, and if that happened, she was planning on spending the rest of the evening at the hospital to check if she was feeling ill, because Regina Mills did **not**  squeal._

_But now, she had to lay the ground rules for Henry. "Now remember: don't open the door to anyone; I know you're leaving later to hang out with Nick, but keep me updated with texts, and don't forget to lock the door on your way out, no staying up late playing video games at Nick's house, and finish your homework before you head over."_

_Henry smiled as she nodded. It was the same schpiel every time. "Yes mom."_

_"And no parties." Regina added as a last-minute thought._

_"Mom, I'm 13," Henry responded with a grin._

_"Call me overcautious, but I want to cover my bases."_

_Emma came up to stand behind Regina at that moment and looked over her girlfriend's shoulder to see Henry sitting at his desk. "So kid, got your rights all read to you by your mom?"_

_He nodded with a grin. "Yep. Even added a new one: no parties."_

_"You and Nick better not be planning on heading into the Rabbit Hole," Emma narrowed her eyes._

_Henry groaned jokingly as he threw his head back. "You'd think I was completely irresponsible."_

_"No," Emma drawled with a smirk. "You're **totally**  the perfect son. Do you want the short list or the long one of all the times you didn't follow our instructions?"_

_"Your fated trip to Boston being at the forefront," Regina added, smirking as well, as she crossed her arms in front of her._

_Henry scoffed. "I was on a mission. Besides, you shouldn't complain, I got you a girlfriend and a family from that trip."_

_"Can't argue with that logic," Emma said, kissing Regina on the cheek. "Now come on, we have plenty to do."_

_As they were leaving, Emma gave Henry a discreet wink._

* * *

_"So, do you want to buy some popcorn? There'll be dinner afterwards," Emma smiled, joining Regina after having bought the movie tickets._

_"Dinner and a movie? You know how to impress a girl," Regina smirked._

_"Just wait until you see what else I've got planned," Emma said, putting her arm around Regina's shoulders, drawing the other woman closer to her, before giving her a kiss on her cheek._

_"Oh?"_

_Emma hummed, "Yep, that's less than half of what I've got planned tonight. So, popcorn?"_

_"Very well."_

_As they went to buy the popcorn - Emma never removing her arm from around Regina, and the other woman made no attempts to remove herself from the embrace- Regina began to muse on how they had gotten here. One week after their reveal to Emma's parents about their relationship, Emma had wanted to make themselves public. Or, like Emma had so eloquently put it "I'm with you and nothing's going to change that, so why not just show them how serious we are, and they can realize that they should stuff their issues with us where the sun don't shine."_

_And so, Regina had agreed to a date. Emma said that she'd have to wait for a week, because the blonde wanted to plan for a perfect date, and that it would be a surprise. Regina had just laughed and kissed her girlfriend, saying that as long as Emma was there, they could watch grass grow and she'd be content._

_"Ah, but that wouldn't be a date fit for a queen," Emma had responded, eliciting another kiss._

* * *

_"That was a pretty good movie," Emma commented as she helped Regina put her jacket on._

_"Indeed. So dinner now?"_

_Emma nodded. "Yep, part 2 of tonight's date."_

_"Oh really? And how many parts do you have planned, dear?" Regina asked, raising an inquisitive eyebrow._

_Her date made a grand show of making it look like she was thinking hard about her answer. "Let's see, divide the four, carry the two, add the one...5"_

_Regina laughed. Who knew the Saviour would be so immaturely charming, in the best possible way. "Okay then, master planner, lead the way."_

_Arms linked, the two women went back to Emma's car - Regina was very happy to have had that death trap upgraded a few months back - and Emma started to drive them right to-_

_"We're leaving Storybrooke?"_

_Emma suddenly became nervous at Regina's question, gripping the steering wheel a little bit tighter, knuckles growing white. "Y-yeah, I just thought that y'know, we could dine someplace nice, and I know that dining options are limited in Storybrooke so-"_

_Regina put her left hand over Emma's right one, hoping the gesture of comfort would calm Emma, and pause her rambling. "I think it's wonderful."_

_The blonde let out a deep breath, and grinned, glancing at Regina. "Okay good, for a second I thought you were going to demand to stop or something."_

_Regina just shook her head, and said, "Not at all dear. And I do quite agree, Storybrooke dining options are not all that good. Though I do hear Ruby is trying to convince Tiana to start her place up."_

_Emma let out a bark of laughter, and saw that they were approaching the orange line. "Knowing bureaucracy, poor lady won't be able to get her restaurant open for another 4 years or something."_

_Just then, they passed the line, and Regina let out a sharp hiss of pain. Emma quickly panicked and veered off to the shoulder, stopping the car. "Regina?" The blonde turned in her seat, silently cursing her lack of consideration, and gently grasped her girlfriend's face in her hands, getting the unfocused eyes to look at her. "Are you okay? Do you know who I am?"_

_Regina shut her eyes tightly for a second, and then opened them again, before nodding. "Of course I do, Emma. I'm not bound to Storybrooke like the rest of the town is."_

_"But then why did you sound like you were in pain? Is it just because you crossed?"_

_"I just had my magic ripped away from me at 40 miles an hour, there's bound to be some pain," she responded with a small smirk._

_Emma quickly kissed Regina, before saying, "I'm sorry, Regina, I didn't know."_

_"I didn't either, but now I can't feel my magic as before. And I suppose that the other time I crossed the town line, when I went to adopt Henry, I was without my magic so I didn't feel it. But I'll be fine, don't worry." Regina gave Emma a quick peck on the cheek to reassure her. Then, as Emma started to move back into the road again, Regina sought to change the topic, she asked, "So, **now**  will you tell me where we are going?"_

_"A little Italian restaurant that I've heard makes some of the best pasta around."_

* * *

_More than 2 hours later and both women were headed back to Storybrooke. Emma was once again driving, and they were giggling over their waiter who had his fly down the entire time._

_"No but how do you not realize those things?" Emma guffawed._

_"I'm trying to imagine how long it'll be until he realizes it."_

_"Well I left a note on the receipt, so probably not long."_

_"You what?!" Regina looked over at her girlfriend, still snickering._

_"I was just trying to be helpful! I mean the guy's probably got another couple of hours ahead of him, so might as well make it easy for him." Emma sobered up for a bit as she saw the orange line approaching, and she eased up on the accelerator a bit, and grabbed Regina's hand, holding it over the console._

_Regina saw what Emma did and smiled, giving Emma a kiss on the cheek. "So what's next?"_

_"Next," Emma paused, carefully crossing over the line. Regina flinched the smallest bit, but then looked over at Emma and gave her hand a slight reassuring squeeze, letting her know to continue. So Emma continued with a smile, "will be something we've always wanted to do. It's kinda together with part 4."_

_Regina just just playfully rolled her eyes. After a few minutes she saw them headed to Storybrooke Park. They had often mused on being able to just take a walk in the park and wander, hand-in-hand. And now they were going to be able to do it. As they entered the parking lot, Regina remembered something else that was happening in the Park. "The Lights Festival is on tonight."_

_"Yep. Making it perfect for our date."_

_Emma parked the car and they got out. The blonde grabbed the brunette's hand and grinned, "Just fair warning, I'm not letting go of your hand for the next hour or so."_

_The other woman got closer to Emma and gave a wide smile in return, gently swinging their intertwined hands. "I'd be disappointed if you did dear."_

_As they began to walk around, they saw all the wonderful decorations for the fair. It was a yearly celebration, inspired from the festival in Rapunzel's kingdom. A day to celebrate light, and wishes. Throughout the Park's pathways, trails of paper lanterns with candles were lit up, hung from posts. At the end of the night, everyone got a lantern - some couples and families sometimes shared - and then they lit it up and made a silent wish. Once they were done, they launched it into the sky, hoping it would come true._

_But for now they were early, they still had an hour to go before the event, so the couple just walked around and chatted._

_"So, what do you think of the date so far?" Emma asked._

_Regina grinned. "It's wonderful. You really wanted to pack everything in today, didn't you?"_

_"Yep, to catch up on the year or so of dates hidden away at your house," Emma responded, before adding, "Not that I didn't like it! I just mean that I want to be able to show how much I love you to everyone...not that our love **has**  to be public, I just figured that- woah!"_

_Regina silenced Emma by stopping, pulling the other woman closer to her by their intertwined hands and kissing her on the lips. They stayed like that for a bit, their hands still joined, moving their lips in sync. Once they broke apart, Regina grinned, "You were rambling, dear."_

_Emma gave a shy smile. "Sorry, I'm just nervous."_

_"What for? You know I love you, and this is the perfect date, so what is it?"_

_"I just...it's part of the surprise, part 5," Emma responded, and capped it with a wink, and a peck on the lips. "Now come on, let's walk a bit more before the crowds start coming, I want to get our lantern before the lines start."_

* * *

_"I have to hand it to the fairies, they know how to make good lanterns," Regina said, looking over at the paper lantern she was holding._

_"Do you guys want a lighter?" asked the attendant, holding out the object he was offering. "To light up the lanterns I mean."_

_Emma grinned and shook her head, pointing at Regina. "We've got it covered."_

_It seemed it was only then that the attendant realized who he was in front of, eyes widening in recognition. "Right! Sorry, lighting's not at its best."_

_If the boy was expecting a reprimand or a snarky response, he would be very surprised, since Regina just smiled and shook her head, saying, "It's quite alright. Have a nice night."_

_The two women, with their hands still intertwined, left the stunned attendant and walked towards wherever Emma was leading them. They arrived at a relatively nice spot near the large pond in the middle of the park, and got ready. Around them, other people - groups of friends, families, other couples, even solitary people - were gathered. Emma and Regina stood, letting go of the other's hand, and placing both of their hands underneath the lantern, ready for the speech._

_Theodore finally came up to stand at the little bridge that brought the pond to a full circle, along with his wife, Martha. "Friends, as you all stand around this pond, glance around you..."_

_Emma was growing more nervous by the second. What would happen after they let the lantern go? What if Regina said no?_

_"Emma, are you okay?" Regina quietly said, careful to not disturb the people around them, moving her hands to softly brush against Emma's._

_"Yeah, just fine, trying to think of what my wish is going to be. Do you have on picked out?"_

_The brunette nodded. "I do."_

_Emma hoped that in a bit, she would hear those exact same words._

_"...so now, I invite everyone to light their lanterns, and once you're ready, lift them to the sky."_

_The blonde watched, entranced as her girlfriend lit up the candle with a gesture, and then met the brown eyes looking at her with a smile._

_"Ready?"_

_"Ready," Emma said, returning the smile._

_They both threw their hands up together, and looked up as the lantern floated away._

_Though rather, Emma watched it for a few seconds before reaching into her clutch and pulling out a box. She was glad that her dress had a thigh slip so kneeling wasn't too much of a problem._

_Once Regina finally looked down, she frowned at not seeing Emma there, so Emma took her cue and cleared her throat._

_The brunette softly gasped, and as they made eye contact, Emma knew it was now or never. "Regina. Over the past years we've known each other, we've had a really big shift in our relationship. We've gone from warring mothers, to belligerent allies, to friends...then back to this tense animosity, and then to lovers. And I know that for the longest time you believed you couldn't have a happy ending, because you thought all you could ever be was the villain, be the Evil Queen, and that my destiny was to defeat you. And man am I glad that wasn't the case, that instead, I got to know **you**. This wonderful woman behind the tale. You really are this perfectly amazing, compassionate, and lovely woman, and I consider myself the luckiest woman on the planet to have you with me. So, Regina Mills, I would be honoured, if you became my wife. Will you mary me?"_

_Emma opened the box and looked up at her girlfriend, waiting, hoping._

_"Yes! Of course I do!" Regina sunk to her knees in front of Emma and engulfed the blonde in a hug, not caring about the people around them - though everyone who was in the nearby vicinity had heard the proposal, and they were all smiling fondly - and once they finally broke apart, Regina wiped the tears in Emma's eyes, cupped the blonde's cheeks, and looked Emma in the eyes. "Thank you," was all she managed to say before she brought heir lips in for a passionate kiss._

* * *

Once morning came around, both women busied themselves with preparing coffee and breakfast. Neither looked at the other, so they didn't see that they were both blushing furiously from their new memories from last night.

They didn't even realize Henry was standing there, gaping at his two moms, until a few minutes later.

Regina was the first to notice, and frowned, "Henry? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah...did you guys get your memories back?"

The two women looked at each other confused for a second before turning back to Henry.

"No?" Emma said, curious. "Why?"

"Because you two are doing the exact same morning routine you've been doing for years," Henry responded, walking in to the kitchen. "Ma prepares the coffee, and Mom makes the food. You guys just have this system and you move around without crashing, it was just like it."

Neither woman had realized, what with being so distracted, thinking about the event that played in their dreams.

"Must be our implicit memory," Regina responded. "Although our memories might not be there, we remember certain things we've been doing out of force of habit."

The family quieted after that, and they finished their breakfast in silence. Henry rushed off to school, and as both women were getting ready to leave - Regina allowed Emma to make use of the clothes still in her closet - the doorbell rang.

They were already in the foyer, so Regina managed to open the door quite quickly, startling the person on the other side.

"Dr. Whale," Emma said, "Is everything alright?"

Whale pondered for a minute before taking a deep breath and saying, "In a way. Are either of you two in a hurry? There's something important I have to speak to you about, something that, to my chagrin, I withheld from mentioning, in order to not add more stress."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooh what does Whale have to say that's so important?
> 
> Also, because I've been doing it with my other fics, I've envisioned this fic to have some 12 to 15 chapters to it, so we've still got a while to go before everything's resolved!
> 
> And apologies for the cliffhanger! Hopefully it won't take too long for me to update.
> 
> I'd love to know what you thought of this!


	6. Dark Corruption

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I'm about to disappoint a boatload of readers...
> 
> Everyone's guesses were pretty interesting, though the popular theory...is not it.
> 
> But the plot will be moving forward a lot!
> 
> Also...considering last night's episode, we'll pretend that it didn't happen BECAUSE IT MESSES THE PLOT OF THIS ENTIRE FIC UP.
> 
> Godamnit, like don't get me wrong that final scene was all kinds of glorious with Swan Mills family but...well I won't spoil things.
> 
> Also warning for character death? It's none of the good guys, I promise. At best it's the gray-area guy. Really dark gray...
> 
> Nonetheless I hope everyone enjoys it!

Whale sat down on the chair opposite Emma and Regina, unsure how to start.

"When people get amnesia, it's usually best to let the patients recuperate on their own terms. Forcing them to try and remember things can be damaging. The same goes for issues that were happening before the accident, but I fear that not letting you know about this might bring more problems."

Both women were beyond confused at the doctor's cryptic words.

"Doc, stop beating around the bush. What is it?" Emma asked.

"Regina's magic is unstable."

Regina blinked, and then frowned. "My magic is fine, Whale."

"It's fine for now while you are relaxed. But magic is emotion, and any time that your emotions get stronger, your magic is working out of whack. It's particularly affected whenever you leave the town, so I'd advise you to stay within the limits-"

"We left yesterday," Regina interrupted.

Whale did not look happy at hearing that. "That's not good."

"What I don't get is, okay Regina's magic is doing weird things, but what's the big deal? Can't Regina just get her magic back to normal somehow?" Emma, back to being the inexperienced magic user, was clueless about the problem.

"It's a big deal because with magic reacting as Regina's is, it can be damaging to people around them, or even fatal."

Regina was pale by now, and Emma longed to just comfort her.

"How did this happen?" Emma asked.

"A little over a year ago, the Dark One went a bit stir crazy. The only way to stop him was to defeat him, or more specifically, to kill him, and Regina was the one to do the deed. We believe that some of the Dark One's magic was transferred to her, and is causing her instability, clashing with her own magic, which has light magic mixed in with dark. From what we had concluded, the magic imbued within the Dark One thrived with power, and did not enjoy being caged. Every time that you would leave town, it would protest by making Regina feel immense pain at essentially being restricted. After a while, the magic began to lash out. You two have managed to keep it out of public knowledge for now, but I would advise you to be careful."

Regina was feeling light-headed. She had not only killed again, even if it was her former-mentor - as evil as he might've been, she couldn't believe she would stoop so low - but now she was a ticking time bomb for others around her? "What can I do?"

"Well, keeping yourself in check is key. If you let your emotions get the best of you, it could prove to have dire consequences."

"Have I...hurt anyone?" she asked, afraid of the answer.

Whale sighed, but responded truthfully. "One. A week or so ago, a woodsman by the name of Al Timber was out and he was going to hurt Emma, and you sort of...tried to burn him alive. He's currently secured in the hospital as he recuperates, but he is so far the only person to have suffered from your haywire condition. Now, I must be heading back, and if you feel anything strange, just give me a call, okay?"

Emma decided to take charge, seeing that the brunette was shell-shocked. She led Whale back out of the house, and once she returned to the living room, Regina was gone. She checked around the house, and didn't find her.

So Emma decided to try her cell. Her call was ignored, so Emma sent a text. After 5 minutes of no response, she left to go to work.

* * *

_"Are you going to kill me, dearie?" Gold asked with a shrill giggle._

_"You haven't given me much of a choice," Regina responded. They were alone in the middle of the forest. Everything was covered in snow, and flurries were falling at that moment. Under any other circumstances, this would look like a serene scene, even picturesque._

_But with the two powerful magic users squaring away, this was a scene of tension._

_"And pray tell, what will you do once you have my powers? Are you ready to deal with the consequences of becoming the Dark One?"_

_Regina whipped out the wavy blade and twirled it around slowly. "It won't be much of a problem if I'm not the one doing the deed."_

_"Oh? You won't get away without any bloodstains you know? I doubt that Ms. Swan will be particularly happy to know her **girlfriend**  has become the Dark One. It's why you came alone, isn't it? You're still a villain, and you're not going to get your happy ending. No matter what, something will take it away, you'll see."_

_She wasn't even going to ask how Gold knew about her secret relationship, and instead gave a mirthless chuckle. "I just hear the sad ramblings of a desperate man trying to appeal to my heroic side to see if I'll bite and let you off. You hurt your wife, and worse, you hurt my son. If you value your life so much, you'll need to **beg**."_

_Something flickered in Gold's eyes at hearing about his wife. "Is...is Belle okay?"_

_"Oh, **now**  you care? She's fine. She wants to rip you a new one, but she's recovering," Regina decided to at least be courteous and provide the information he was asking for._

_Gold took a deep breath, leaning heavily on his cane. "Being the Dark One is a double-edged blade, if you'll pardon the pun. All the power in the world, but no one to share it with. I've lost my family, blinded by my tunnel vision in my quest for power. The least I can do is spare you from being cursed as I was."_

_Regina saw him step forward and hold his hand out for the dagger. She took a step backwards, hand tight on the dagger. "Do you take me for a fool?"_

_"Well right now I do. For only a fool would think that killing the Dark One and getting away with their **light magic** ," - he said that last part in a mocking tone, getting Regina to grind her teeth together - "is a possibility. You have two choices. Either kill me and become the Dark One, or give me the dagger and keep your sense of self."_

_"Rumpelstiltskin, I command thee to not use any trickery," Regina ordered, holding the dagger out horizontally._

_He gave a sigh and put his hands up as a show of good faith, letting the cane tumble onto the snow and burrow there. "If I were you dearie, I'd stand back."_

_Regina let go of the blade, seeing Gold continue holding it up with his magic, and she stepped back, just as he advised._

* * *

_A shockwave spread out from where the Dark One fell._

_Emma had been at the edge of the forest, having used her magic to locate Regina's vicinity, when she felt the tremors._

_"Regina?" she called out. "Gold?"_

_She kept her gun tightly in her hand, and then commanded into the night, "Find me Regina Mills now!"_

_A bright red line shot out once more, seemingly emerging from herself, and she followed it as fast as she could while it was still active, trudging through the thick and fluffy snow, getting thicker the deeper she went into the forest. Then the line seemingly dropped and pointed to something on the ground before disappearing yet again._

_"No..." Emma mumbled, heart plunging as she put her gun away and barrelled towards her girlfriend's collapsed figure. "Regina!"_

_Emma fell to her knees beside Regina, and checked her pulse. It was still there. Faintly, but there. She didn't have time for anything else, and with Regina in tow, she magicked herself to the hospital._

* * *

"Emma? Emma!"

"Huh what?" Emma jumped up at hearing her name, and saw David looking at her strangely.

"Is everything alright? You kinda zoned out there. You've been off for the entire day really. Is it about the date? You didn't come back last night so we assumed it went fine, but..."

"It's not the date, I'm just feeling tired," she responded vaguely. Emma couldn't focus on her work and she begun daydreaming to what she was sure was a memory. It was probably related to what Whale was talking about earlier. She had to find Regina. "Actually, I think I'm going to take the rest of the day off. Give me a call if there's an emergency."

"Alright, take care and get some rest. You look tired," David suggested, giving Emma a hug as she stood up.

"Yeah thanks dad."

Once Emma was outside and beside her car, she released a deep breath and shook her hands. She wasn't sure it'd work, but if past-her could, then present-her could do it too.

"Find me Regina Mills."

Nothing happened. Silently cursed she tried again.

Again nothing. Emma would not give up. She racked her brain for the exact wording and intonation she had used. With as much concentration as she could muster, she focused and squeezed her eyes shut. "Find me Regina Mills  _now_!"

She cracked one eye open and saw the familiar red line shoot out. She took after it in a run, going wherever it'd lead her.

* * *

Whale locked the door to his office and sat down. The blinds were closed so he was free to take out his whiskey and fill up a generous glass before downing it in a gulp. He was so far out of his league. He should've told them the entire truth.

He looked at the files for Emma and Regina, where the falsified information was in place. He and Blue had decided, after the fairy had found ample amount of magic surrounding his patients, that panicking anyone was not a good idea. As far as everyone knew, the couple had suffered brain trauma that led to the amnesia. After all, people didn't have to know that their heads hadn't been damaged at all.

Or that in all likelihood, Regina's corrupted magic was the cause for their amnesia.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And yeah!
> 
> No magic!baby, sorry to say! I was actually pretty surprised people were thinking about it, maybe in the future?
> 
> Also, I'm not a doctor, so take Whale's info as complete and total BS. Well not entirely, but there's no medical accuracy to it.
> 
> As is my plan, for the holidays, I'm doing double updates for all my fics! So in a few days you'll get another chapter of this fic! It's much lighter than this one was.
> 
> So that's what's coming up! As well as daily updates to Coldly Calculated!


	7. Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An update just the day after! Lucky you!
> 
> So the plot has kinda jumped forward big time huh?
> 
> Whale is keeping secrets, Regina has part of the Dark One's magic within her...but where is the rest of it~
> 
> That I leaf to you, the readers, to figure out, I wood think I've left quite a number of clues... at least tree of them.
> 
> Anyway enjoy this chapter!

_Emma was running out of breath, this guy was a nutcase! She had no idea where the rogue woodman had come from, and as she moved out of the way from another swipe of his axe, she cursed at the narrow dodge._

_Her gun had run out of bullets, and her magic was somehow weaker near him. That was without mentioning all the near skirmishes she'd had with the huge axe, though thankfully she had avoided any major cuts. The trees around them were all riddled with indentations from where the guy's brute force with the axe had hit the trees instead of Emma._

_"Seriously, can't you just put the axe down for five minutes? I don't even know where the hell you came from or who you are!"_

_"I am Al Timber, and you, Emma Swan, must die."_

_Emma looked unimpressed. "Really? 'Timber'? And could you be any more ominous? What the hell did I ever do to you?"_

_"Emma!" The blonde whipped around and saw Regina approaching her._

_"Regina! What're you-"_

_"Look out!"_

_Timber had used the distraction and thrown his axe like one would a discus, but thankfully Emma had enough reflexes to duck out of the way. The tree behind her however, did not escape the flying axe and splintered in half horizontally, falling off to the side._

_"Petunia!" Al exclaimed._

_"You named your axe Petunia?" Emma asked, completely confused. She had never understood the fascination with naming things, but calling an axe Petunia was on a whole other level that she couldn't comprehend._

_"How **dare**  you!" Regina suddenly bellowed, hands glowing purple as Al was raised off the ground, held aloft by her magic. "How dare you hurt my  **wife**!"_

_"Regina!" Emma was transfixed as her wife growled, a malicious glint in her eyes that she hadn't seen in years._

_A giant fireball appeared on one of her hands, and she threw it at the man, hitting him directly._

_Emma broke out of her reverie and threw a ball of water at the screaming man now doused with water, before rushing over to Regina. She stood in front of the woman, who wasn't even looking at her directly, instead fully focused on the writhing, semi-burned man. She got closer, putting her hands on Regina's cheeks, hoping her words would get through to her wife. "Regina, look at me. Don't give in to the darkness okay? You can't let it win."_

_Regina was now looking at her, but it was an empty look, no recognition. Standing closer, Emma realized that her wife's eyes had a purplish haze to them._

_She had to try something to get her out of this. Without further thinking, Emma kissed her on the lips, hoping it'd be enough to get her out of her state._

_Once they broke apart, Regina's eyes fluttered open, back to their normal brown colour. "Emma? What-"_

_"Hey, it's okay, you're fine."_

_"I-" Regina looked around, saw all the cuts on Emma, and the whimpering woodman still suspended by her magic before she released him._

_Al fell into a heap, and Emma went to go cuff him._

_"Did I...do that?"_

_She'd never lie to Regina, as much as it pained her to tell her the truth. "Yeah, your protective side came to my rescue. Do you remember any of it?"_

_Regina screwed her face in concentration. "Vaguely, I just remember wanting to cause him as much pain as I could."_

_Emma gingerly pulled the man to a standing position, surprised at his stamina and endurance. "Come on, let's get out of here."_

* * *

Emma slowly opened the crypt door, hoping that Regina wouldn't hear her and thus run away again. Pushing the coffin aside would prove to be the bigger challenge, since the stone scraping against stone in a dead-silent zone would make a screeching sound.

So she decided she'd only open it a little bit, just enough to slip inside, in order to make the least amount of noise as possible. Thankfully, it didn't make much noise, and in no time, Emma was descending the stairs into Regina's lair.

There, she found Regina sitting in the corner of the main room, on the dusty floor with her knees drawn up to her chest, arms curled around her legs, chin resting on her knees, looking unfocused onto the ground.

Without a preamble, Emma walked over and sat beside Regina, putting an arm around Regina's shoulders and pulling the brunette closer to her.

That snapped Regina from her reverie, and as she realized what was happening, she asked in trepidation, with a bit of a squeak to her voice, "What are you doing here? Didn't you hear Whale? I'm a danger to everyone."

"It's part of a doctor's job to make you panic," Emma shrugged. "Besides, I'm still your wife, here for you no matter what, remember?"

"But what if I hurt you? Or if I hurt Henry? I can't lose you two..." Regina lost her words, tears prickling her eyes as she opened and closed her mouth, trying to figure out what to say.

Emma shifted positions, coming to kneel in front of Regina, cupping Regina's cheeks with both of her hands, wiping the tears with her thumbs. "Hey, Regina, look at me."

She did, and she saw the love and adoration in the blonde's eyes. she had never seen anyone look at her like that before, at least with her current memory.

"You're not going to lose either one of us, because we  _love_   **you** , even if you do have part of the Dark One within you, we'll figure this out together."

"But what if it takes over? What if-"

Emma pressed a kiss to Regina's temple. "Then we" - a kiss to her left cheek - "will figure" - her right cheek -"this out" - a lingering peck to the tip of her nose -"together."

Regina had been shocked at the first kiss, but she got a smile after the next few kisses, that only grew with the last kiss. A beat after Emma finished her sentence, Regina put her own hands on Emma's cheeks, and brought their lips together.

* * *

_Emma felt like she was going to burst with happiness. Here she was, standing at the altar in a gorgeous white dress, staring as her bride was walking down the aisle, with David at her side._

_After the initial shocks of finding out within the span of one week that their daughter was not only dating, but also engaged to Regina had worn off, the Charmings had been ecstatic at wanting to help plan their wedding. David decided that he would be walking one of them down the aisle, and after much consideration, the couple had decided that Regina would walk down the aisle._

_Once Regina had arrived at the altar, Emma took Regina's hand, and they faced forward, listening to Archie's sermon. The entire time they were caressing each other with the entwined hands._

_And then came the vows._

_"I, Emma Swan, take you, Regina Mills, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part."_

_"I, Regina Mills, take you, Emma Swan, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part."_

_"You may now kiss your bride," Archie said with a grin._

_Regina and Emma turned to look at one another, and both brought their faces closer until their lips met. They kissed lovingly and without abandon, wrapping their arms around the other, since from now on, they would be together, no matter what._

* * *

"Emma..."

"Regina..."

"You remember?"

"I remember."

They kissed again, Regina lowering her legs as to be able to bring Emma closer to her, missing having her wife with her. They nipped at each other's lips, before finally breaking apart.

"I'm so sorry for the divorce papers and-" Regina's apology was cut off by Emma pressing her lips against the brunette's.

"Don't apologize for that, we had forgotten, so it's not your fault. But I do apologize for getting mad at you...maybe this wouldn't have happened if-"

Now it was Regina's turn to cut off Emma's apology.

"It was my magic that started this, but let's not play the blame game darling, and try to figure out how to resolve this."

"Sounds like a plan." Emma went once more to sit down beside Regina, pulling her wife close to her.

This time, Regina burrowed into the hold much more willingly, letting her head rest on Emma's shoulder, as she released a relaxing breath. "I feel so relieved at having my memories back."

"So do I," Emma agreed, gently running her arm over Regina's arm.

Regina then remembered something, and with a puff of purple smoke, she was holding her wedding ring in her left hand.

Emma saw it with a smile, and grabbed the ring. She then turned Regina's palm upside down and put the ring back on her ring finger before kissing the knuckles.

With a chuckle, Regina shifted her hand so she could hook her fingers under Emma's chin to lift her face back up until it was level with her own. Then she kissed her softly.

"I love you."

"And I love you," Emma responded with a grin.

After they kissed for a couple of seconds more, Emma saw that Regina seemed to be deep in thought. "Regina? Everything okay?"

"Us kissing gave us our memories back..." Regina murmured.

"Yeah? Wait, does that make us true loves or something?" Emma asked, eyes widening.

Regina was momentarily deviated from her stream of thought at Emma's question, donning a similar expression of shock. "I...I suppose so. I hadn't thought that we could be but-"

Emma once more kissed Regina, smiling into the sweet moment.

"But," Regina said, breaking the kiss off and putting a hand on Emma's chest before continuing, "what I don't understand is  _how_. We had amnesia, due to a brain trauma. True Love kisses only break curses, they don't cure brain trauma, as it's not a magical affliction..."

"Wait, what?"

"Emma, I think someone took our memories away."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's where I leave you!
> 
> ...until the next year that is. We're just past halfway done this story!
> 
> I hope everyone enjoyed this! Plenty of fluff to make up for the dark chapter before this one, plus memories are back!
> 
> And a bit of a mystery. Oooooh, who do you think took their memories?
> 
> Next up for me will be double updates to Date in the Name of the Law, and then the conclusion to Kissing Booth!
> 
> Of course also plenty of Coldly Calculated updates.
> 
> Let me know your thoughts!
> 
> Happy Hanukkah to those that celebrate it, since it just started today, and I hope everyone has a happy holiday!


	8. Getting Answers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, apparently my pun skills need plenty of work, the 3 puns in my last AN went over everyone's heads.
> 
> Anyway! The plot will keep thickening as we move on!
> 
> Let's see what's cooking, shall we?

"Someone took our memories away?" Emma asked, appalled.

"I believe so. There is no other reason to explain why a kiss would return our memories," Regina explained.

"But why? And how? We're the only magical beings left in Storybrooke, apart from the fairies, but you don't think they would..."

As neither of them had an answer, the topic was dropped for the moment. The two women fell into a comfortable silence as they continued to sit in each other's embrace. It hadn't even been a full week that they'd lost their memories, but they had missed being in the other's life as wives.

"So what should we do?" Emma asked after a couple of minutes. She was slowly caressing Regina's hair, something that the latter was enjoying very much.

After something that sounded almost like a purr, Regina answered, "I don't know. I don't understand why anyone would want to erase our memories, I don't remember anything specific that could be damning for anyone, which makes me think that amnesia wasn't their intention."

Emma quickly understood what she was trying to say. "You think someone tried to kill us?"

"It's a possibility we should keep in mind. Did you have any other theories?"

"Well I also thought about whether either of us knew some secret information, but someone did this to  _both_  of us...what if someone wanted to keep us apart?"

Regina shifted so she could look at Emma in the eye. Without saying a word, she was asking for Emma to elaborate.

"Well think about it. We both got amnesia that removed the exact quantity of memories that would take us both back to a point where we didn't like each other as much, or at least wouldn't admit it."

"They could have certainly picked other times," Regina thought out-loud.

"Maybe they didn't have enough time?"

Regina nodded, "It would explain the shoddy work. This was not done by someone experienced."

Emma grimaced. "That doesn't make me feel better about this. If they're not experienced, they're more dangerous. They could go off at any moment."

"Indeed, so I think that we need to be smart about how we'll catch them. But more importantly, we probably should not advertise that our memories have returned. We'll need to continue to pretend to hate each other."

The blonde let out a small chuckle. "Not a problem, I have an endless supply of snark and experience at pushing your buttons."

"Oh my love, you have  _no_  idea what you're signing up for."

* * *

Emma and Regina parted ways, deciding that Henry would be privy to their plan, as he deserved to know, and the list would stop there. Emma's parents were a firm no from Regina, and when Emma asked why, she got a look and the indisputable answer of "I don't need to remind you that after Ruby, your mother is second best at unable to keep her mouth shut."

With that, she headed back to the station, thankful at least that now, she wouldn't get plagued with disconnected memories cropping up each time she closed her eyes.

"Hey, I thought you were headed home because you were tired?" David asked when she came in, brows furrowed.

Emma nodded. "Yeah, I did go; turns out a couple of hours of rest can do wonders for me."

Her dad did not look convinced. "But you left your car here..."

"Oh!...That, yeah I wasn't too sure that me driving a vehicle while bone tired was the best idea," she added a sheepish smile for emphasis.

David couldn't argue with that logic, so he just closed the subject and got right back to what he was doing, filing. Turns out that even in sleepy Storybrooke, the paperwork could pile up. While Emma left her dad to his devices, she went to her desk to fill out the paperwork so it could be filed.

"So dad, I was wondering, was there anything weird on the night of my accident?" Emma asked after a couple of minutes of silent working.

"Well this is Storybrooke, weird things happen all the time. But there wasn't anything weird, if anything it was  _too_  peaceful."

* * *

_Emma looked outside the window, it was pouring outside, and she wanted to be anywhere but there right now, but she was stuck until the end of her shift. Besides, even if she were to leave, she'd have nowhere to go. She was still not talking to Regina, so her home was out of consideration, but at the same time, going back to where she was staying, her parents' house, wasn't too much of a comforting thought. It wasn't that her parents were being unsympathetic with the situation, but rather that they kept asking what they had been arguing about, and she didn't feel like explaining that, when Gold killed himself, some of his power was transferred to Regina due to her proximity, and that it was making her wife unstable._

_Not even Henry knew. But not for lack of trying on Emma's part. She wanted to tell him, but Regina made her promise not to. She was afraid that, should he find out about this new darkness, he would resent her once again, as he had when he found out about her being the Evil Queen. It tore both of them to know that they were keeping something from Henry, but it was for the best._

_When the station phone rang, she thanked her lucky stars for the reprieve. Her thankfulness would be short-lived, but she took the little things as they came._

_"What's that Mrs. Wall? A disturbance? I'm sure it must be the wind, there's a storm outside. Glowing eyes? Yes I suppose that is weird, and I probably should investigate. Okay, I will be there in a bit." She hung up the phone with a weary sigh. Could this town ever get a break?_

_Just when Emma thought that things couldn't get anymore complicated, she had received a text from Regina. She wanted Emma to come home._

_Without much thought, she sent back a curt response. She technically wasn't in the middle of a case, just answering a disturbance call, but she still said it out of spite._

_Immediately after, she got a worried response. The storm wasn't that bad, so she couldn't resist snarking back._

_Not receiving an immediate text again, Emma made her way to the door of the station, and checked to make sure she wasn't leaving anything on that shouldn't be. She turned off the lights, since after this she was finishing her shift. Making sure that her phone was routed to take any emergency calls, she turned to locate the cruiser. Finding it, she sprinted to the vehicle, and quickly dove inside, only getting a little wet._

_Turning on the engine, she felt her phone alert her to a message. Regina again. Of course she would insist on accompanying her. Resigning to her fate, she let Regina know she'd pick her up. She'd have to pass by there anyway._

_Glancing to her phone after a moment, she typed out a quick message, and pressed send before she could change her mind. Her phone buzzed after a few seconds, letting her know that the message did not send. Just her luck. The storm was probably blocking the reception._

* * *

Of course, Emma remembered everything from that fateful night, but she wanted to know if maybe she'd missed any information, like maybe something happened after she was knocked out, or in the days that she was unconscious.

"Just your average car crash resulting in amnesiac victims huh?" Emma said.

"Pretty much. If you really want to nitpick, the fallen tree was a bit suspicious..." David commented.

Furrowing her brows, Emma prompted, "How so?"

"Well, I've passed by that road quite often in patrols, and I've seen the tree. It's always been leaning  _away_  from the road. If it fell naturally - it certainly wasn't cut - it wouldn't have fallen on the road."

"But there were heavy winds that night- er...or so I'm guessing because of the storm?" Emma quickly tried to cover up her slip about her additional knowledge.

David didn't catch it, as he just nodded. "True, but that was an old tree. It was about to keel over anyway, but I suppose it must've just been bad luck."

"Yeah, probably," Emma sighed.

* * *

Regina had decided that, considering that she had already not showed up for work this morning, she'd take the rest of the day off. It wasn't as if anyone would reprimand her, she  _was_  the mayor. As she and Emma had coordinated, Emma would try to fish for information from her dad, see if anything about the case was wonky, while Regina would deal with Whale. And she most  _certainly_  wasn't going to fish.

She had a more direct route, and a memory potion ready once her little inquisition was done. Storming into Whale's office - using her magic to unlock the door - she found that her task had become infinitely more simple. The stench of alcohol was in the air and the good doctor was looking positively pathetic and drunk.

"Is it so wise to be drinking on the job?" Regina asked, barely attempting to veil her condescension.

"Fuck you," Whale simply answered.

"How eloquent. And while I'm sure you'd wish to continue wallowing in your pity and despair for whatever justifiable reason you see fit, I have some questions that need answering, and you are going to answer them, whether you like them, or not." If there was one person that the years hadn't allowed her to forgive, it was Whale. The skeeve was still as disgusting as the day she met him, and no amount of time made him more sympathetic to his plight.

So, magicking away the tumbler and the whiskey, she sat down on the visitor's chair, keeping eye-contact with the bleary-eyed drunk across the desk. "So, let us get started. You mentioned that we got amnesia from our head trauma, correct?"

Whale let out an undignified groan, swaying his head in annoyance. " _Yes_ , did I not make it clear earlier?"

"Crystal. Which is why I'm wondering how true love's kiss was able to restore my memories."

There it was, trump card on the table, and the mood shifted. Gone was the tipsy Whale, and in his stead, was an alert Whale, one who was painfully aware of what Regina had just said.

"Ah, so you do know something..." Regina continued, seeing the look in his eyes. "Care to elaborate?"

Taking a deep breath, he let it out shakily, looking down at his hands, and not the intimidating woman in front of him. "There was no head trauma, that's true. But we're not sure of the exact reason for why you and Emma lost your memories."

"We?" Regina asked, pointing out the pronoun used.

"Mother Superior has been helping me to figure out the cause, but it's a bit hard, given the circumstances of its secrecy."

Regina was not impressed. Even less so to hear the meddling fairy was involved. "I see. And pray tell, why would you let us believe that it was head trauma, Dr. Whale? Last I checked, omitting the truth from your patients is a crime, and combined with my clearly seeing you drinking on the job, you'll need a  _very_  good reason to convince me why I shouldn't just revoke your license."

Whale let out a mirthless chuckle. "Oh please, cut it with the bad-cop attitude. Your threats are empty, but I'll indulge you, since you seem  **so**  keen on your path of destruction, a little push further from me will be seen as an act of mercy in the future. I wanted to spare you and Emma the pain during your amnesia state, unless you wanted everyone to know that  _your_  magic erased both your and your wife's memories?"

Regina maintained her mask of indifference even though she was internally crumbling. She did this?

"So tell me, Madam Mayor, is there trouble in paradise?"

* * *

_The ride thus far had been quiet, only the sounds of the thick droplets of water, and the constant swishing of the windshield wipers were heard._

_They were returning home, Emma hadn't been too keen to explore the expansive Walls property for a pair of glowing eyes in the middle of a storm. She vaguely looked around, with Regina helping to cast some light, and they hadn't found anything. Convinced that it was probably a stray cat, they returned to tell the Walls that if those eyes appeared again, to call and try to take a picture._

_Regina looked quickly at her hands, and then to her wife. "Emma, I'm sorry."_

_Emma let out a sigh. "I honestly don't know what to do Regina. I get what you mean about worrying, I would too. Hell I worry every time I get in a skirmish about not getting to see you or Henry again. I'm sorry too, I know that this is hard for you. I should be helping you, not giving you reason to become more stressed. I know that trying to keep this new magic hidden and secret for so long is hard. So what do you say about trying to put this behind us? We'll manage it together."_

_"Sounds perfect. I love you Emma."_

_The blonde quickly spared a glance at her wife, and could've melted at the loving look Regina was giving her._

_Then, the car swerved._

_She tried to brake but hydroplaned forward. She eased up on the accelerator as they moved steadily forward due to the the downhill slope._

_"Emma watch out, there's a tree!" Regina pointed out at the fallen trunk in front of them, blocking the road._

_She kept pumping the brakes, hoping for some traction, but nothing. "Can you teleport us out of here?"_

_Regina regretfully shook her head. The circumstances and the tension might make their teleportation go all kinds of wrong. The only thing she could think of was to grab one of Emma's hands, firmly gripping the steering wheel._

_As they neared the fallen tree, Emma quickly glanced at her wife. Her earlier unsent text floated to mind, and she opened her mouth. "I-"_

* * *

"Hey mom!" Henry greeted, entering the house. Emma trailed behind him, hands in her pockets. She hadn't told Henry why she was accompanying him to the house, only that both she and Regina wanted to talk to him, but he had accepted the company with a grin.

"Hello Henry, would you like to put your stuff upstairs? Then we can talk," Regina said with a smile, coming out of the kitchen.

Both Henry and Emma could tell that something was up with Regina, but neither could quite place a finger on what it was.

As Henry bounded up the stairs, Emma approached her wife.

"Are you okay?"

Regina shook her head. "We'll talk in a bit."

Hearing that Henry was out of earshot, Emma cupped Regina's cheeks and murmured, "I missed you," before giving her a passionate kiss that was eagerly returned. After a few moments, they heard that Henry was heading back down, and they parted.

"Let's sit, we have a lot to discuss," Regina said, clearing her throat as she recovered from that kiss. She only hoped Emma wouldn't see her differently after she found out the truth.

* * *

In the middle of the forest, two figures had gathered.

"Any news on Al?" Teresa Bark asked.

Peter Mahogany shook his head. "Tried to sneak in to the hospital, didn't get far, but he's still in custody, condition not too stable."

"How  _dare_  she hurt our brother, especially considering our bond."

"She is not aware of our bond," Peter reminded her.

"Soon enough, she will. And then together, we will be a force to be reckoned with," Teresa vowed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooh, mysterious huh?
> 
> I didn't include the texts in the flashback 'cause you already saw them, they're the ones from chapter 3.
> 
> And just to clarify something in case it wasn't clear, Gold took his own life, but popular theory has established that it was Regina who did the deed [because EVIL QUEEN!, the idiots], hence the discrepancy between what Whale said, and what Emma was musing on in the flashback.
> 
> Moving on! Next up will be Date in the Name of the Law, and then Such a Heavenly View!
> 
> I'd love to hear your thoughts!


	9. Reverting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, funny story, I did end up writing quite a bit during my vacay (despite spending a majority of it nauseous), so you guys get an update!
> 
> Also this new half season is shaping up to be pretty awesome so far! [Plus I'm a sucker for complex storylines, and Emma's potential darkness stint is making me excited!]
> 
> Anywho! This is quite an intense chapter because we're setting up for the climax and big...well, I'll let you guys read and find out.
> 
> As always, enjoy!

"So, what's going on?" Henry asked, sitting down on the couch, looking at his moms.

It was then that Regina realized how much her little boy had grown, both physically and mentally. He certainly had changed, but that mischievous and playful side of his was still there.

While Regina mused, Emma answered, "We got our memories back, but you can't tell  _anyone_  outside of this room, because we think we were cursed."

"Cursed?" Henry asked, mouth agape. "Why?"

Emma shrugged. "Haven't a clue, but we got our memories back with true love's kiss so chances are that someone felt that we posed a danger, and got rid of our memories because of it."

Henry nodded solemnly, trying to rack his brain to think of who could possibly want to harm his mothers. "Any idea who did it?"

"Yes," Regina piped up before Emma could lay claim otherwise. She felt two sets of eyes boring onto her own, but she kept her gaze onto her hands, discreetly fidgeting.

"Did Whale tell you?" Emma asked, knowing where Regina had come back from. "Or did he have something to do with it? I swear that little-"

"No," Regina intoned, interrupting Emma before she got into a furor over nothing. " _I_  did this."

The room was silent for a few moments, and Regina felt the overwhelming urge to shake them, demand them to react, to get it done with, to call her evil and realize that she was once again destroying everything.

"Regina?" Emma's voice had always soothed Regina, in ways she hadn't even known was possible. Now it put her on edge.

Forcing herself to face the music, and to at least go out with dignity, she looked up at her small family.

There were no faces of anger, nor trepidation. Only caring.

"What do you mean,  _you_  did this?"

Regina sighed. Sometimes her wife could be quite dense. "I mean exactly what I said. I did this.  _My_  magical signature was found when Whale and Blue had us in the hospital. Once again, I ruin everything. Once a villain, always a villain." By now she was trying to keep her tears at bay. She still couldn't figure out the how. She had all her memories back, so why would she have done this? Why would she have wanted to destroy this?

"Mom, you're not evil anymore, you're not a villain," Henry countered, naively unaware of her magic's latest development.

Regina took a deep breath, explaining this would not help matters. "Henry, there is something you don't know about my magic. You remember when Gold took his life, right?"

Henry nodded his head. He was still resentful over his paternal grandfather's madness.

"Well, the magic of the Dark One is somewhat complex. As you well know, killing a Dark One transfers their powers to whoever killed them. Gold believed that killing himself would spare anyone from absorbing his powers. However, he was wrong."

" _You_  have the Dark One's magic?" Henry asked, aghast.

Regina nodded. "At least part of it, yes."

Emma, who had been silent till now, took Regina's hand into her own and said, "We wanted to tell you Henry, but we didn't want you-"

"To hate her again," Henry finished, looking sorrowfully at Regina.

"Please don't be mad at us Henry," Emma pleaded.

Henry shook his head. "I'm not mad. I mean, I wish you guys would've told me, but I guess I get it, you had your reasons."

"We didn't know how to tell you," Emma explained. "It's not exactly something easy to talk about."

Henry gave an easy smile. "It's okay. So then what's the plan? Is mom's magic different now? Are you going to get rid of it? Is there any way to control it?"

Henry's questions were coming a mile a minute, so Emma chuckled and interrupted the barrage of inquiries. "Whoa, slow down kid, you don't want to overwhelm your mom."

They both were now looking at Regina expectantly. In a small voice, she asked, "Why aren't you guys running away? Why haven't you accepted that I'm now forever corrupted by evil and that you're better off without me?"

"Regina..." Emma began to say.

But Regina wouldn't hear it. "No, Emma. I know that you have a knack of seeing the good in people - a trait you unfortunately inherited from your parents and passed on to our son - but this isn't a matter of perspective. I have the Dark One's power, there is no redemption for me. I have to accept it once and for all."

Both Henry and Emma were poised to protest, but Regina was ready, and added, "I know what you two are about to say, and I love you both very much for it, but I would like some time alone to think, please?"

Neither of the other Swan-Mills members were about to counter that request, so they both nodded. Regina was thankful that they respected her wishes, and went to give Henry a big hug - an especially powerful one that she reserved for special occasions to convey her absolute love for him - and a reassuring kiss on the forehead.

For Emma, she put her hands on either side of her wife's cheeks, and brought their lips together for a strong and passionate kiss, or as much as they were willing to allow given that their son - despite being a teenager by now - was in the room. With a puff of purple smoke, Regina left them, heading anywhere to clear her head.

* * *

She wound up exactly at the point that Rumple took his life. It looked different now that it wasn't covered in snow, and maybe some trees were gone, but Regina knew. The dagger itself had never been found, the last time that it had been seen was when Gold took his life. Its disappearance was something which was potentially quite dangerous to her, should the wrong person find it.

"It's lonely, huh?" Regina whipped around and saw two people headed her way, a male and a female, rugged and wearing bright plaid shirts.

"May I help you?" Regina asked.

"No, but  _we_  can help  **you** ," the woman spoke once more.

Regina scoffed. "I doubt it."

"Because we don't have the Dark One's magic?" the woman sardonically responded. "You'll find that that is not an issue. Feel with your magic, Regina Mills, and realize our bond."

Regina did as the woman said, and noted that the aura around the newcomers was dark, just like Rumple's was when he was alive.

"How..."

"You were not the only one imbued with the Dark One's powers that day," the man finally spoke.

"There was no one else around us; I saw," Regina countered, tensing ever so slightly.

"Ah, a naive one. Tell me, Regina, what do you see around you?" the man smirked as he asked, gesturing to their surroundings.

Regina had no time for these games, and made sure to glare at them to let them know. In her best Evil Queen voice, she said "I hope you're not expecting an answer. Either you tell me who you are and what you know, or you will sorely regret approaching me."

The woman smirked. "Ah the infamous Evil Queen appears. But very well, we will humour you. Until Rumpelstiltskin took his life, we were trees, like all the others you see around us. When the shockwave blast passed through, it made my brothers and I beyond powerful. Powerful enough to take any form we saw fit. You can even see where we used to stand in our more simple forms before."

The woman gestured around the clearing and Regina saw that there were three indentations on the ground where trees could've probably stood. She then noted something, from both what the woman said and the quantity of small craters on the ground. "You mentioned brothers, and I see three spaces. Is there someone else?"

"Yes, Al Timber, the brother you put in the hospital while he tried to get rid of your wife so you could join us."

Regina now connected the dots. "You caused our amnesia..."

"Yes after the plan proved to be a failure, we realized that our attempts at killing your wife, while putting you in the right mindset, would not be conductive to our plans, so we sought to make you forget your love for her, and therefore be ready for us to approach you. We clearly waited too long and underestimated your wife's love for you."

"Yes," Regina responded with a growl, calling up her magic to do her bidding, and concluded with, "you underestimated  _both of us_."

In a few seconds, she had both of her victims suspended in mid-air with tree branches wrapped around their middles, coiling tightly around them.

"Don't you  **ever**  try to hurt my family again, am I clear?" Regina snarled, bringing the man closer to be more intimidating.

The man nodded, but he was nonetheless smirking. "Crystal clear, but now  _you_  underestimate us, and the fact that we are in our element here."

Before Regina could react, she was thrown off balance as a tree branch wrapped around one of her legs and pulled to hang her upside down.

Due to her loss of concentration, she let go of her magic, inadvertently freeing the man and woman.

"Now, let's change things up, shall we?"

Next thing Regina knew, she felt a sharp sting by her neck. She tried to bring her hand up to take out whatever it was, but her arms felt heavy. As her eyes were drooping closed, she saw the smirking man modify his appearance, looking scarred and bloodied, as if he had been freshly attacked.

The last thing she saw was that same man don an expression of absolute horror before he took off running like his tail was on fire.

And the last thing she heard was the woman say, "Watch as all your hard work topples over. You'll accept your role in no time when you see how quick they are to hate you, even so many years later."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bad place to end it? I'm gonna guess that it is.
> 
> My biggest internal debate was trying to figure out what Henry's reaction was going to be: angry or understanding to not being told? I figured understanding worked best, he knows his moms love him, but Regina is a very insecure person, as we'll see in upcoming chapters. Dun dun duuuuun.
> 
> Anyway! I'll be updating with a drabble, Date in the Name of the Law, aaand Her Stable Girl!
> 
> Let me know your thoughts!


	10. Taking Matters Into Their Own Hands

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well then!
> 
> It's like this fic is going for the exact opposite of what the show is doing every single time! First Gold and Belle's relationship, now Emma's the Dark One...
> 
> I'll just ignore most of season 4 and yeah.
> 
> So, I left everyone in quite a state of distress with the cliffhangers [by now I think everyone and their mother knows to watch out for them] so let's get things going.

When Regina came to, everything came crashing back to her. She was still being held captive, though now she was in some kind of underground cave, judging by the amount of tree roots around her. In fact, one of said tree roots was holding her immobile.

"So glad you could join us," the woman spoke up. "I was thinking, we never actually introduced ourselves, did we?"

At Regina's lack of response, the woman gave a shrill laugh. "Oh of course, be melodramatic. But nonetheless, I am Teresa, and my brother, who should be back any moment, is Peter."

She barely reacted to the information, and didn't even blink an eye when Peter showed up, still looking his beat-up self. She was closing herself off, the unknown making her tense and insecure. But she was well-practised with erecting walls and closing off her emotions, with decades of experience.

"Was the mission a success?" Teresa asked.

"Oh it went better than I could have hoped. Would you like to see it too, Regina?" he asked with an evil smirk towards her.

Teresa snorted at the lack of reaction once again. "Oh she's giving us the silent treatment."

"Oh well then. I'll make you watch it anyway, how does that sound?"

Before Regina could do anything else, she saw him hold his palm out, fingers splayed, and her mind went blank.

* * *

_She was running._

_Well, it wasn't her, but rather, Peter. He was running away from something, right into town. As he left the safety of the trees, he adopted a shrill screech, and began to falter in his running, as if he was winded. He even began to run unsteady, as though he was limping._

_"Help me!" he yelled hoarsely, rushing through the row of houses, not stopping to see the reactions of the people around him. He knew he had their attention, and they would follow him. Just like any typical small-minded community._

_"Please you've got to save me from her!" he screamed, turning his head to look back as if he were keeping tab on some unknown monster running behind him, seeing the throng of Storybrooke residents following him curiously. Reaching the intersection at the corner of the library, he stopped, getting to his knees as if he was kissing the asphalt. "Oh thank god, thank you god," he began to murmur._

_"Are you alright mister?" a man asked him._

_Looking up, he looked wide eyed at the crowd around him. Scrambling to stand up, he began to ramble, "The Evil Queen! She's gone insane! She has the Dark One's powers and she was about to kill me! We have to do something to stop her. She's in the forest right now, and I barely managed to run away. You have to believe me!"_

_Around him, mutters began to spread, but his acute hearing caught the gist of what was going on: they all believed him, or at the very least, didn't find it too odd of the Evil Queen to have done it._

_"Blue Fairy! Is it true? Does the Evil Queen have the Dark One's magic?" someone yelled out._

_The crowd shifted to face a brunette woman wearing a habit. "Yes, unfortunately it's true. We had hoped that if she kept it under control we would be able to keep it quiet, but her magic has been spiraling and becoming unstable. In fact, we have solid proof that she caused Emma's amnesia, as well as her own."_

_"What?" Peter recognized the new voice. It was Snow White, Emma's mother. "You're not really implying that-?"_

_"Unfortunately so. Whale also called me to let me know that she had gone to his office earlier today, threatening him within an inch of his life, and had fed him a memory potion that would make him forget that encounter. It was in the process of acting up as he called me."_

_Peter was nodding wildly. "Yeah, yeah, she's batshit insane!"_

_Snow was looking at her husband, who took charge. "Don't worry everyone, we will get to the bottom of this. Just let us handle it."_

_"But your daughter is married to her!"_

_"Yeah you'll probably help her escape!"_

_"We can't trust you!"_

_Eventually the screams and accusations got loud enough that he was able to slip away without anyone noticing._

* * *

Emma felt as if her head would explode. As if the 30+ calls to her station from crazed citizens wasn't enough, it seemed as if some lunatic was hell-bent on making Regina out to be this madwoman. He had burst in to her station a few minutes ago, rambling about all these things that Regina had done.

* * *

_"Please Sheriff, you have to believe me!" Peter exclaimed, grabbing the lapels of her jacket and shaking her slightly. "I know she's your wife, but you must stop her!"_

_"Oh I do, believe me, I've been having my suspicions since this whole amnesia thing started, but I can't allow you to be part of my investigation," Emma said, grabbing his wrists and pulling him away from her. "I'll take care of it from here, and I can assure you that, wife or not, she will get the justice she deserves. Now you need a hospital. Do you want me to accompany you?"_

_"No no, it's alright, I just wanted to warn you. Thank you Sheriff."_

* * *

Of course Emma hadn't believed him, her lie detector had pinged like there was no tomorrow, but she couldn't let him on to that. He might otherwise try to convince her with more dire methods. Instead she used some well-placed words and gestures to make him believe her. It was the only way.

So she grabbed her gun, and decided that she had to get to the bottom of everything by herself. She called Henry and let him know of her plan, making him promise that he would take shelter and not open the door or reveal himself to anyone. Before she had left the house, she had cast a protective spell around the perimeter of the house that only allowed her and Regina inside.

"Can't I go with you?" Henry now asked.

Emma sighed. She knew he would at least try. "No kid, I need you to be home. Please, it's safer that way."

Henry seemed to realize that this was important, and relented. "Okay, good luck."

* * *

Regina felt the bile rising in her mouth. The fact that others might fall for Peter's tricks she could believe. She didn't much care for them, and what they said or did wasn't much of a bother. She had heard enough whispers ever since the curse broke that never diminished.

But her wife? To hear Emma accept his recount of the story so easily made something snap inside her. She felt her power rising, destroying the branch keeping her in place.

Now with both feet planted firmly on the ground she turned to Peter and Teresa. "I have had  **enough**  of you both."

"But we showed you that they don't believe you!" Teresa countered, trying to keep Regina calm. This was not part of the plan. The paranoia toxin was supposed to make her paranoid against the town, not make her irrationally angry.

"And I don't care," Regina bit back, lifting them both simultaneously into the air, both her hands clenched in front of her. They tried to use their magic, but she blocked it, so they reverted to the more animalistic urge of clawing at their throats, as if they could release the hold like that.

She didn't have time for their theatrics, so she rolled her eyes and flicked her hands open, her magic turning them into stone statues. With the gesture, she also released them from their midair hold, and they plopped into the soft earth beneath them, immobile.

Now, she had some business to take care of.

* * *

Emma teleported herself to the forest, arriving by the well. She began to walk towards the well known path to where she had found Regina after Gold died. Although there was no more snow, she probably would remember the path for the rest of her life. Her heart had been in her throat in fear that day, wondering what was happening.

To be honest, she was feeling the exact same thing right at that moment.

Reaching the familiar clearing, she began to look around. Trees, trees, and more trees. She needed to find answers. But there were too many question threads that went nowhere. And a very small list of people she could trust.

"Find me Regina Mills, now," she tried.

The red string shot out around her, and then went around in circles before just shooting right back towards her, poking her sharply in the ribs. "Ouch!" she exclaimed, rubbing the area. Clearly that wasn't an option right now. She wasn't going to get stabbed again. Someone must be blocking Regina from her, and she had to find out who, and why.

The best she could do was investigate the area. Everything looked normal, except for one corner of the clearing. She crouched and looked a bit closer, seeing 3 small craters where thick trees used to stand. Her mind called back to that fateful day that she found Regina in the snow. She was positive that the trees were still there then, so what could have caused them to be removed like that afterwards?

Looking up, she saw beyond the clearing a tree that looked like it had been roughly hacked with an ax, and now lay parted in two, wood splintering the trunk.

Her eyes widened. This was where she fought Al Timber. The man who had gotten so upset when his beloved axe Petunia had cut through a tree.

No, no, that didn't make sense. The axe had taken to plenty of trees during their scuffle and he hadn't shed a tear for any of them. It had been the specific tree that made him emotional.

Petunia hadn't been the axe, it had been the tree.

Without a further thought, she took herself to the hospital.

Two minutes later, Regina could finally see the clearing, and she took a deep breath, smelling the air. Emma had been here. And from what she could tell, she had gone to the hospital.

* * *

Once she arrived, Emma found that her path was unimpeded, since everyone was probably trying to batten down the hatches in their own homes, or Granny's. She found Al's room quick enough, and fished for the keys to open his door.

Slamming the door open, Al looked up at the intrusion, until a smug smile filled his face seeing who was there. "Ah Sheriff, how nice of you to visit."

"Cut the crap. I have questions, and you're going to answer them," Emma ground out, striding up to his bed with her fists clenched by her side.

"And what makes you think I know anything?" Al responded, still holding the same expression of superiority, as if he was holding all the cards, despite being incarcerated to his hospital bed. He had seen the sparks of magic around her hand, but that didn't faze him.

Emma wasn't deterred. She was a woman on a mission, and nothing would stop her from finding the answers to find and save her wife. "Because otherwise I will take your axe and cut down all the trees in that godforsaken forest until you do. And I have no problem with being a menace to the environment if it means I get to give them the same treatment your beloved Petunia got to find my answers."

That made him change his tune. "You wouldn't."

"Want to bet?" Emma asked, making the very axe in question appear on her hand.

Al relented. He was powerless anyway. Apparently, Storybrooke had made their standard handcuffs magic-proof. "Alright, alright, what do you want to know?"

"Who are you, and why are you so attached to those trees?" Emma started, gripping the ax tightly in both hands.

Al began to explain about the trees being his family, his siblings. He and another brother and sister had been granted powers beyond their imaginations, and they used that to turn into humans, due to their much more advanced forms. "It was the Dark One's death that turned us."

Emma's expression was one of shock. "You guys have the rest of the Dark One's powers. Where are your siblings?"

"They are completing our plan," Al responded, cocking his head.

"Which is?" Emma fired back. She couldn't waste any time, every second was precious.

Al faltered here, which led Emma to grip the axe tighter. "Alright, alright. We're trying to convince the Evil Queen to join us."

Emma let out a sardonic laugh. "Yeah right, you'll never manage that."

"I do agree."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Regina, I'm really putting her through her paces, huh?
> 
> But don't worry! We're reaching the end of the story soon enough!
> 
> Anyway, next up is Her Stable Girl, then I'll be continuing How many times can a heart break? and then drabbles!
> 
> Love to know what you thought about this!


	11. The Dark Queen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright! Everyone's going kinda crazy, so let's get this show on the road!
> 
> I'll just get started and leave all the rambling for the end.
> 
> Sound good? Grand, 'cause that's what you're getting!
> 
> Regina's outfit based on the S4 ep: Enter the Dragon.
> 
> Warning for intimidation tactics of a desperate woman, therefore: minor violence.

"Regina-" Emma began, before she found her feet inexplicably stuck to the ground. She glanced down at her feet and saw a faint purple aura around them. Recognizing the magical signature, she looked back up at Regina in confusion. "Uhm, what's going on?"

"What's going on?" Regina repeated, her voice cold. Truth be told, Emma was getting goosebumps, but she kept her wits about her. Regina was wearing all black, leather skirt with a silk dress shirt that had three generous buttons undone, coupled with a suit jacket that had leather sleeves; combine that with the leather gloves, sheer stockings, and what Emma had dubbed as the fuck-me-heels, and she painted a picture of pure intimidation. Under other circumstances, Emma would've found the combination sexy, but she figured that now wasn't the time to be thinking in that mindset. "I'll tell you what's going on,  _dear_. I am done having my hard work and redemption squandered by everyone around me. Everyone has long decided that I'll only ever be evil.

"So very well, that's what they'll get. From now on, the  _Dark Queen_  is all everyone will see," Regina finished, mouth curled into a snarl, arms held out, hands splayed, as if presenting herself.

Emma tensed against her stuck feet, but they didn't budge. "Regina, that's not true. I'll always support and believe in you-"

"LIAR!" Regina screeched, stalking up to Emma, her face livid, chest huffing, seeming as if she was exerting all her will to not do some unspeakable evil to Emma. "I saw what you told Peter, so don't even try-"

"Who's Peter?!" Emma asked, desperation in her voice.

Al chose that moment to pipe up. "My brother."

"And currently a stone statue in a lonely burrow within the forest along with his sister. The point is,  _you_  don't actually believe in me. You pretend you do, but you're just like them, you're never going to believe in me."

"That's not true Regina, please," Emma begged, clenching her fists in an attempt to will her magic to undo Regina's spell. No luck.

Regina brought her right hand to tightly grip Emma's chin, making their eyes meet. "Oh you are not going to escape so easily, Emma Swan. And you can stop lying. You believed that coward-"

Emma wasn't going to allow Regina to continue spewing this nonsense. "Stop!" - Regina faltered here, giving Emma the strength to continue - "Please Regina, I didn't believe him. I told him that I did because he seemed unstable, and that it'd be pointless to try and reason with him. I didn't know who he was, but he was making my lie-detector go hawywire."

"Ah yes, the infamous lie detector," Regina jeered. "How convenient for it to crop up now."

"I'm telling you the truth!" Emma exclaimed. "I'd never lie to you Regina, and you know that. Whatever they told you, whatever they used to try and convince you that I'm not on your side, isn't true. I love you. Darkness or not, every part of you is special, and I would never believe some random crazy over you."

"Is that so?" Regina asked with a mirthless chuckle. "And why were you at the forest recently, before leaving and coming here?"

"Because I was hoping to find you, and then I figured out who Al was, so I came here to interrogate him and find out what their plan for you was." Emma was determined to assuage all of Regina's fears, no matter how long it would take her.

Regina's eyes searched hers, darting all over, and for a second, Emma thought she had gotten through to her. She even felt the magic around her feet weaken.

Then, the magical grip tightened, even more so than before, and Emma was glad for the hold on her chin, otherwise she would've toppled over.

"You are pathetic. Even knowing you are caught, you still lie through your teeth."

"I'm not lying," Emma once more insisted.

With a huff, Regina let go of Emma's chin. "I don't have time for this."

Before Emma could even think of a retort, to try and stop her, Regina poofed away, simultaneously also undoing the magic hold on Emma's feet, sending the Sheriff toppling over onto the linoleum floor face first. She picked herself off of the floor, and looked around. Regina was nowhere to be found.

Then, Emma saw red. Whipping around to face the incarcerated patient, she she ground her teeth and stalked over to him. "What did you do to her?"

"Nothing!" he exclaimed, the slightest bit of fear in his eyes, probably from having seen Regina's stunt, rather than the very angry Sheriff in front of him. His funeral, Emma thought savagely.

"Liar! You will tell me what is going on right now. That's not my wife acting of her own volition, so you will tell me what's going on, or so help me-"

"You'll what?" Al goaded.

Emma grabbed the axe that she had previously been holding. "Don't test me."

Now Al was fearing for his life. "Please-"

"Oh no, you don't get mercy," Emma interjected, a wicked glint in her eyes. She brought the sharp blade up to Al's neck. "You better start singing like the canaries that once landed on your branches, or you will be joining Petunia."

Al gulped, his Adam's apple scraping against the sharp metal.

"Emma!"

Keeping the axe in position, Emma whipped her head around to see her parents standing there, twin expressions of shock on their faces. "Emma what are you doing!?"

"Trying to get answers from this asshole!" Emma ferociously retorted, once more bringing her gaze towards the man on the bed. "He knows all about what's going on with Regina, and I will find out what it is."

Mary Margaret slowly edged forward. "Emma, please, trying to think about what you're doing. You're threatening a man's life."

"He's a tree with part of the Dark One's powers, pretty sure he can take it."

"Not if you kill him," David added. "You can't sink to his level, Emma, we can find out everything in a peaceful manner."

A part of Emma wanted to tell them to stuff the peaceful schpiel, but the part that won out knew that her parents were right. So she backed away, putting the axe down by the bedside table next to the bed. She thought she heard her parents give a sigh of relief. "You better start talking."

Al's sigh of relief from having gotten through Emma's intimidating threat unscathed turned into a satisfied smirk. "You can't scare me, Sheriff."

"Want to bet?" Emma growled.

"How about you help us," David attempted to appeal to the man's charitable side.

"How about I don't?"

Emma had had about enough. "Fine. Then don't expect us to help turn your siblings back from stone statues."

"I have magic, why would I need your help?" Al scoffed.

"You don't actually think we'll let out get out of here with your powers, do you?" Mary Margaret asked. "We'll remove your powers."

"You forget, I am the Dark One."

"Part," Emma corrected. "You're one fourth of a Dark One, so you're not that powerful."

David crossed his arms, not looking at all impressed. "Wow, that sounds like quite a fiasco. I wonder how easy it'll be for Blue to get rid of your powers."

Al sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine, what do you want to know?"

"What have you done to Regina?" was Emma's first question.

"Isn't it simple? Paranoia is a powerful thing. We just injected her with a dose of it," Al explained.

Mary Margaret looked at him with furrowed brows. "You can do such a thing?"

"Of course. It makes people extremely susceptible to their worst fears, and if we're lucky, they take to it and it manifests. It makes them exist in a living nightmare of their own creation. We had already used it before on her."

Emma was livid, lips pursed as she contemplated where to punch him first. " _You what?!_ "

"After your amnesia, we gave her a dosage. We would've given you as well, but we didn't have time. Why do you think she was so reluctant to give you a chance? She was paranoid. Paranoid at having all her fears come true, so much so that it nearly did come true."

"You-" Emma began advancing on Al again, but she was held back by David, who wrapped his arms around her. Though that didn't stop her from bellowing. "You're responsible for that?! You son of a bitch!"

Al just continued to smirk, prompting Mary Margaret to condescendingly ask, "Why would you do such a thing?"

"Oh don't worry, we had it tested out, on both you and your husband, in fact."

They all tensed once again. "What? When?" David asked, still not letting go of his daughter.

"When your daughter first decided to reveal her relationship with Regina. You see, we were inexperienced, naive, we had just recently been turned into our current selves, so we were rushing into things. We had also just learnt that we had the ability to peer in, if you will, into Regina's eyes, and we were so desperate to have our final partner together with us. We saw that they were planning on coming out to you, and how it'd be the perfect opportunity to strike. So we sprinkled a bit of paranoia into both of you, thinking it'd do the trick. That that might undo Regina's relationship with Emma, and she'd be more open to embrace the darkness."

David and Mary Margaret looked sick to their stomach. They had always been confused as to why they had reacted to harshly to Emma and Regina's announcement, especially considering how their friendship with Regina had progressed. But they had chalked it up to fears, and trying to make up for more than 30 years of not being able to be over-protective parents. Thankfully, Emma had accepted their apology; Regina did too, albeit begrudgingly and after a while.

"That's it," Emma said, breaking the silence. She had taken advantage of her father's distraction to break away from his hold, and she stalked back up to Al, clawing into his hospital gown and pulling him up to face her. "Listen closely,  _Al_. If you don't want me to go and find your siblings right now and turn their stone statues into a pile of dust, you will tell me how to undo this paranoia."

Al seemed to have lost his bravado at Emma's clipped words. He cared deeply for his siblings. "Okay okay. It all depends on how far gone she is. Your parents, for example, had a small dose, so it wore off with time. But Regina should've gotten a heavy dose. And from the look of it, she accepted the paranoia, let it fester."

"How do I get rid of it then?" Emma repeated, gritting her teeth.

"There's a potion, she must drink it willingly, but it'll remove the paranoia. It's extremely ancient, and very hard to make, but I know how to make it."

Emma let go of his gown, letting him plop back onto his bed. "Great, because you're going to help make it."

Turning to her parents, she said, "Call Blue, get her to help you guys with the potion to make sure he's not pulling one over you, I'm going to try and find Regina."

"How? She won't be too happy to see you," David reminded her.

"I don't care," Emma said, moving past them and leaving the hospital.

* * *

Emma walked to the park, noting the streets remained empty. Everyone was home, bracing for some imminent disaster, but Emma didn't mind, she wanted to talk to Regina alone.

She came to stand at a familiar spot, the spot she proposed to Regina, and she took a deep breath. "Regina Mills, Regina Mills, Regina Mills."

Before her eyes, Regina materialized, wearing the same intimidating getup as before, looking unimpressed. "My my, already summoning me?"

"Wait, please hear me out," Emma rushed to say, seeing that Regina was ready to leave.

For whatever reason, Regina acquiesced, crossing her arms in front of her. In a bored tone she asked, "Very well, what do you want?"

Emma took a deep breath, before talking. She hadn't planned the words, and she knew at any second Regina could leave, or yell at her, or do a myriad of other things, but she was determined to make her wife understand. "I know you hate me. At the very least, you feel betrayed, and I'm sorry. I was trying to protect myself from the nutjob, and I made you feel like you couldn't trust me. But you can.

"Al told us you were injected with this paranoia earlier, that's what's making you think the worst about what you saw."

"I know what I saw," Regina haughtily interjected, eyes hard.

"No, you don't." Emma wasn't going to let such a simple thing take Regina down a spiral of darkness and loathing. "You saw what those idiots wanted you to see. They know your weakness. They know that me not believing in you would hurt you. But Henry still believes in you, my parents are at the hospital right now with Blue and Al, trying to make a potion to get rid of this paranoia that's clouding your judgment. It'll make you see what I'm trying to tell you. Please believe me. Give me a chance."

"You've had too many chances, Emma. Why should I give you more? I'm beginning to think the divorce wasn't such a bad idea."

Emma cringed the slightest bit at the mention of the hated papers, but she tamped down on trying to focus on that, and instead said, "Well you want to know what else? You were with the paranoia the entire time you were missing your memories, that's why you were so afraid of accepting our relationship, but you overcame that. How about we try it again?"

Regina snorted derisively. "You actually expect me to fall for that? Say for a second that I believe this entire paranoia schpiel you've got. You didn't see when Peter spoke to the town, how everyone, your parents included, were scared. Terrified. Their faces drained of colour. That wasn't a potion. Or a poison, or a spell. That was the systematic reaction this terrible town has whenever I'm mentioned."

"Then we'll move. Leave Storybrooke and find a place where our little family can blossom and where you won't be judged," was Emma's solution.

That seemed to quell Regina's rage for the slightest bit. Her eyes softened, and her lips quivered in the smallest of smiles, before her expression hardened again. "It couldn't possibly be that simple. How would you uproot all our lives just like that? What about Henry?"

"What about him?" Emma asked. "The kid loves you to the moon and back. He likes Storybrooke well enough, but if we were to go to New York, to the apartment we were living that year, he'd have friends in no time, and I'm sure that as long as we're with him, the rest doesn't matter. Plus he loves New York, you've heard him talk about it. And as for me, you know I'll bend over backwards for you, always."

Deep down, Regina was beginning to fall for Emma's words. She moved a few paces forward, and then kept moving until she was standing toe-to-toe with her. A shaky hand reached up, tensing just a breath away from Emma's cheek. Emma moved her head so her cheek could be cupped by Regina's hand.

"Why?"

"Because, I love you Regina, and your happiness means everything to me. Please let me help you."

Regina seemed to think about it for a moment, before relenting. "Very well. I will let you have this, provided it works."

"It will," Emma said, enthusiastically nodding. Right at that moment, her phone started ringing, and she excused herself to fish it out of her pocket. She hadn't moved back, so Regina heard everything as Emma answered, and Mary Margaret's voice came through the tiny speakers.

"Mom? What is it?"

"Did you have any luck with Regina?"

Emma glanced at Regina, gave her a small wink, and smiled. "I did, why, what happened? Is the potion taking a while?"

"The potion's the least of our worries. Al escaped."

"Escaped? How did he escape?"

"Well, that axe was still in the room, and he kinda hacked at the handcuffs, splitting them in two and making his getaway."

"Shit. I'll be right there."

Regina looked expectant at Emma as she hung up the phone. "So, are you sure you're not just stringing me along?"

"No." Emma sighed, before locking eyes with Regina, holding her arms out to either side of her in a gesture of surrender. "If I fail, you can take your anger out on me. Take my heart and crush it."

Internally, Regina was screaming  _idiot!_  Ready to voice her rage at why would she be so stupid, to offer herself up like this. She knew she loved her, she didn't have to prove herself. But her fears - perhaps that paranoia Emma spoke of, her mind supplied a little too late - tamped it down, so she ended up saying, "Aren't you a glutton for punishment."

"I mean it."

"And a willing one at that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah!
> 
> The paranoia injection has appeared before! How many people saw that coming? Or did I make it too obscure?
> 
> We're nearly at the end! Still have a few loose ends to take care of, but we're reaching the very last chapter!
> 
> And I think it'd be in everyone's best interests if I were to finish this, put everyone out of their misery and just conclude this story, yeah?
> 
> Therefore, you're all gonna be getting another update! Last chapter will be out in a few days hopefully!


	12. New Beginnings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're at the end!
> 
> What a ride it has been. I hope everyone enjoys this final chapter!
> 
> And cover! I finally got around to making it, I'm sure people will recognize the scene that it's based on. it's on the first chapter for those interested.
> 
> Oh and Happy Halloween if you celebrate it!

As Regina transported them to the hospital, both women were silent. Not knowing which room to go to, Regina merely took them to the right wing, and Emma silently took it upon herself to lead the rest of the way. Reaching the door, Emma started to grab the handle before Regina called to her, snapping her away from her thoughts, and pausing what she was about to do.

"What is it?" she asked, turning to her wife, hand dropping.

It was then that Emma saw vestiges of the Regina she knew, not this paranoid version that probably wouldn't trust her with a paper clip, much less with her life and happiness.

"Thank you...for doing this," Regina silently mumbled, as if she was fighting her instincts at saying something scathing instead.

Emma gave her a goofy smile and moved a few paces towards her and met her lips in a slow kiss. "I love you Regina, I would do anything for you, you know that, right?"

Regina's fight against the paranoia had ended for now, as the brunette scoffed and said, "Let's just get this done with."

Clearly battling paranoia wasn't easy. So Emma left it that. With a nod, she turned back and entered the room. Mary Margaret sat on the now empty bed, half of a pair of cuffs dangling sadly by her side, while she was looking down at the floor solemnly.

"Mom?" Emma said.

Her mother looked up at Emma's voice, a soft smile adorning her face as she jumped down to stand and look at her daughter and Regina, though Emma could tell there as a broken quality to her expression. "Hey, you two made it."

"Where's dad?" came Emma's next question. She wasn't really in the mood for small talk.

Mary Margaret sighed. "Arguing with Blue."

"What? Why?"

"They're having a disagreement over what potion to prepare," Mary Margaret explained, clasping her hands in front of her and looking anywhere but the two women in front of her. "David wants Blue to prepare the potion for Regina, but Blue is hellbent on doing a potion that will subdue Al and his siblings before they can wreak more havoc."

Regina sighed, finally speaking since she came in. "Of course the meddlesome fairy has her own agenda. What did you expect? And why aren't you there with them?"

It pained Emma to see her mother flinch at Regina's harsh words, though she did see the logic in them.

"It was getting a bit too much, and they're working in another room. I thought I could wait where it was a bit more silent."

Emma nodded, and spoke up before Regina could deliver another scathing line. "Alright, let's go now and see what we can do. Did she say why she couldn't work on them simultaneously?"

They began to walk back out of the room, and Mary Margaret explained. "She believes we should prioritize. Al and his siblings are the real threat, and Regina can wait for later."

"A plan that clearly can't fail," Regina snapped, voice laced with sarcasm. "I knew this was a waste of time."

"Regina, wait!" Emma whipped around, arm flying out to try and catch Regina's. But it was too late, Regina had already transported herself.

Emma growled and clenched the hand she had extended to try and grab Regina and stop her. Whipping around to face her mom, she ordered, "Do whatever it takes to get Blue to get that stick out of her ass, and get her working on both potions, or so help me, after this is done, I  _will_  be charging her for something."

Without waiting for her mother to respond, she called forth her magic to clutch the vestiges of Regina's remaining magic, and follow the trail to her wife.

* * *

Regina was in her vault pacing, wondering what her next step should be. She was so lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice Emma arriving, and when Emma spoke, she gave an undignified yelp.

Clearly her next move had been to form an angry fireball and aim it at her wife's head.

"Whoa! Regina it's just me!" Emma quickly exclaimed, hands up placatingly.

"I know very well who you are," Regina retorted, hand steady. "And that's  _exactly_  why I'm not lowering my hand. How I put up with your nonsense for all these years is beyond me."

"Falling in love with someone will do that to you," Emma deadpanned.

Regina scoffed. "Yes,  _love_. Mother was right, it's a weakness. One that only opened me up to hurt."

"Hurt? Regina, you have your memories, you know I would never hurt you," Emma countered, brows furrowed as she stood her ground.

"Yes, not personally," Regina acquiesced. "But that's not what I was referring to. I meant that because of you, I believed people could think I changed. You made me choose hope, rather than jaded cynicism which had served me so well. But _of course_ , people like the Blue Fairy can't see that, and won't ever see it. And with her are numerous others who think the same, and _I've had it_!"

The last part came a bit hysterical, and Emma was wondering if she should rethink her plan, but she knew that if she backed off, she would merely confirm Regina's fears, which were currently running rampant through her wife's head. "My offer to take us away from Storybrooke still stands Regina."

"I've thought about it, but that would be about as efficient as running away, and I refuse to run away!" Regina's chest was heaving, and her expression broke from the enraged mask it was, to something much more human. Fear. The flame died, and Regina's shoulders sagged as her arms drooped. Like an old plant wilting at the end of its life, and she looked lost.

Emma didn't waste a second before she had Regina firmly in her arms, and she felt Regina lean into her, and grow heavy. Emma allowed the pull of gravity to do its work, and as they sunk to the ground, she felt Regina's heaving sobs before she heard them. Uttering soothing noises, they stayed kneeling on the ground, Regina with her head buried into Emma's chest, hands clutching at Emma's shirt and jacket, sobbing tears she hadn't allowed herself to shed until now.

"Shh," Emma soothed. "It's okay, you're safe."

If she hadn't been paying attention, she would've completely missed Regina's next words. "I'm scared, Emma."

Breaking away, Emma kept a firm but calming grip on Regina's upper arms and moved to look her in the eye. "Hey," Emma whispered, waiting until Regina met her gaze to continue. "I'm here for you, Regina. In sickness and in health, for better or worse, remember? You don't need to be scared, you'll always have me on your side."

And Regina felt like the only thing she could do was give a teary yet grateful smile, letting her head droop back down to rest on Emma's chest. They held their position for a few minutes more. Regina was terrified of moving. Terrified of the hole she had dug herself into. Her mind felt like an absolute whirlwind. Part of her wanted to lash out, destroy this weakness, build thick emotional walls that would finally get rid of all her doubts and worry and  _humanity_.

But no.

She couldn't.

She was wanted, and loved. She could feel it. Somehow, she could feel the care that Emma had for her.

"Come on," Emma murmured. "I have to show you something."

Regina's eyes narrowed at Emma's vagueness. And yet, despite her apprehension, she let Emma stand them both up, her curiosity mounting when she felt Emma's magic thrum and white smoke billow around them as her wife teleported them.

Home. They were in the foyer of the house they shared and had built so many memories within its walls. Now, Emma gave her a comforting smile before she let go of Regina and approached the stairs. "Henry?" she hollered. "Can you come down here for a minute?"

In no time at all, Henry was bounding down the stairs, and as he saw his mom, he bounded into her arms. "Mom, you're okay!"

Emma let them have their moment, smiling when she saw that Regina let go of her paranoia for a moment to just enjoy this with their son. Once they broke apart, she moved to wrap an arm around Henry's shoulders. He had grown so much, but she could still wrap her arm around him without having to keep her arm at an awkward angle.

"See what you have here?" Emma asked, gesturing to both her and Henry. "We're not going away. We're family, and we'll stick by you. You don't have to be scared Regina."

Henry nodded. "Yeah mom. Dark One or not, we'll figure it out. I mean, she," - Henry jerked a thumb to his other mother - "is the Saviour, I've got the heart of the Truest Believer. And you're the most resilient person ever. If anyone can solve anything, it's us. Together."

Together. That sounded like such a perfect word. Regina bit her lip, but she couldn't stop the smile from spilling into her face. Emma and Henry wasted no time before they went to cocoon Regina in a hug. Spontaneously, both had the same idea, and went to plant a kiss on either of Regina's cheeks.

The effect was instantaneous. Regina felt a clarity and...lightness. She stumbled backwards in shock. "What-"

Mother and son looked at each other in confusion. "What is it, Regina?" Emma asked, brows furrowed.

"You broke it," was all she murmured. Then she sighed, relieved, looking between both pairs of confused eyes, and repeated, louder, more excited, "You two broke it!"

"We broke what?" Henry asked, hoping for clarification.

Rather than answer right away, she extended her arms and rushed back to them for a bone-crushing hug. "The paranoia!"

They laughed in relief, Henry whooped in delight too, breaking away from the hug to mention he was going to get drinks to celebrate.

Once they were alone, Regina settled Emma with a glare. "Wanting me to rip your heart and crush it?" she asked sardonically. "Not exactly winning words if you were trying to convince me you didn't think of me as the epitome of evil."

Emma had the good graces to look bashful. "Spur of the moment thing. I was kinda panicking and that was the first thing that came to my mind. I'm really sorry."

Regina knew that Emma had quite a case of foot-in-mouth syndrome, so she accepted the words, knowing that Emma was sincere.

To prove her point, Emma surged forward to kiss her lips softly and reverently, and Regina welcomed it. Hell, she  _needed it_.

As they once more parted, Regina faltered, feeling something weird in her stomach.

Henry was the first to notice, having been returning laden with a tray of cups that he instantly set down on the table nearby when he felt something wrong. "Mom?"

She flinched, and rolled her shoulders, clearly feeling discomfited.

Emma, who was closer, went to clutch her wife's shoulder. "Hey, what is it?"

Regina looked at Emma, and she seemed panicked, eyes wide and mouth parted ever so slightly. "Get back..."

"What?"

"Get back! Leave!" she roared. With all the strength she could muster, she tried to push Emma back. Her wife stumbled a few paces back, and Henry moved to join her, holding Emma steady.

When they made no move to leave, she let out an animalistic growl and magicked them away.

"Reg-" was all Regina heard before Emma vanished. She felt around for the magical barrier that Emma must've erected to protect Henry, and changed it so that no one could enter this house.

She had barely managed to build another thought before she felt the darkness crawling its way out of her.

* * *

Emma and Henry swatted the smoke away and saw that they were in the hospital once more.

In fact, they had shown up right where Regina had disappeared when she had been there earlier, in the middle of the hallway.

"Emma? Henry?" It was David. He was peeking his head out of a nearby room, before Mary Margaret flung the door open to have a look for herself.

"What are you two doing here?" the brunette asked, ushering them to enter. Blue was standing begrudgingly by a cauldron, glaring at them.

"Regina kicked us out," Emma started. "But we got rid of the paranoia."

Blue muttered something, but thankfully for her, Emma wasn't too preoccupied to actually listen or question her about it.

David looked confused. "Why did she kick you out?"

"She seemed scared," Henry piped up.

Emma shook her head, clearing it. "I'll go find out. Meanwhile, new plan. Priority is getting Al once again, and getting rid of this darkness, thereby subduing all three siblings."

She started to head out when she head a voice ask, "What should I do?"

Whipping around, Emma was left facing her son. "Stay with your grandparents, kid. It'll be safest with them."

Henry nodded, silently wishing her good luck, and he went to gather in front of the cauldron. Sparing one last glance, Emma went outside, and called forth her magic, willing it to take her home.

When the smoke cleared, she was standing outside, on the porch. Letting out a low growl, she approached the closed door, only to be shot back by a volley of magic that send her tumbling all the way back across the street. Thankfully she landed on the Kiplings' very manicured lawn. Picking herself back up, she flexed her fingers, still feeling the electricity crackling through from where her digits touched the magic.

Stalking back across the road, she made her way back into her house's front lawn. But instead of heading for the door - she knew there was little point in trying to tackle it all gung-ho on it - she went for the windows. Perhaps she could gleam something from the ones with the shades drawn, or even find Regina and try to reason with her. She didn't care if she sounded like a maniac yelling at her wife through the window, but she was going to be getting her message across somehow. So she started looking, hoping to find a sign of life.

* * *

In the middle of Storybrooke's forest, Al was running. The metal from the dangling remains of the chain on his cuff was joined by his harsh breathing and rustling leaves were the only sounds he heard. He reached the cave where he knew his siblings were, and descended harshly into the spacious area. There they were, just as Regina had described.

With a wave of his hand, they were back to their human selves, and Al barely managed to catch his breath before he said "Come on, we don't have much time. The paranoia worked a little too well, and Regina's unhinged."

Wordlessly, the two other siblings climbed back out behind their brother, until they all paused, feeling a strange sensation in their stomachs.

Next thing they knew, the darkness was leaving them, and gathering into one floating form above them, leaving behind three trees growing once more, their roots skewed, and their trunks growing too close together to be healthy.

But the darkness didn't care. No, it was interested in joining its fourth counterpart, and it wasted no time heading that way.

* * *

Emma meanwhile, was still trying to find a way in. She had seen no signs of life thus far. Having reached the backyard, she decided she should at least try the patio door. So she scrunched her face up in preparation for the pain, and slowly inched her hand closer to the handle.

To her immense surprise, the door didn't send her flying back, and instead opened. Slipping inside, Emma decided to listen before moving.

She heard Regina, and a raspy voice. Not taking any chances, she was glad the patio entrance was right near the kitchen, so she was able to reach into the cutlery cupboard and find the biggest knife they owned. Making her way closer, she strained her ears to get a better sense of the situation.

Then, she took out her phone and sent a message.

* * *

A few minutes ago, Regina had collapsed onto her hands and knees as the darkness left her.

"Regina Mills. You were a worthy host for a good while, but you've gone soft," a voice said. It was raspy and monotonous. It lacked empathy and made her skin crawl. "But no matter, I have grown stronger, and I have no need for a physical body anymore. Humans are weak, and even the trees aren't good enough for my plans. So allow me to unlock your house and undo the magical barrier, my other fragments shall be joining us soon."

As Regina shakily went to stand up, she huffed and pursed her lips. She felt alone now, scared even. She had sent Emma and Henry away because she felt what was happening, and was afraid the darkness would seek out her family and try to take over them. But it seemed that hadn't been its plan. Eyes focusing, she was staring at a cloaked figure, with a dark robe and an expressionless golden mask with crisscrossing lines along the bottom, and a pattern on the top. There were holes for the eyes, but only inky blackness stared back.

"What do you want?" she ground out.

"I want everything. The world giving in to the darkness. But you needn't care about the intricacies, you will have your own role in this dawning of the new age," it responded.

Betraying nothing, she feigned interest. "Oh really? So I'm not a good host, but I am a worthy ally to you?"

Before the darkness could respond, the front door blew open and a flying mass of darkness, tendrils and webs of a black liquid-like syrupy substance came pouring in. It crashed right into the darkness, enveloping it before the figure absorbed it all. "Much better."

From behind the figure, Regina saw Emma wielding something...was that a carving knife?

Unfortunately, she wasn't the only one who noticed. "Ah, Emma, so glad for you to join us," the darkness greeted with a malicious tone, turning to face the blonde.

"Leave her alone," Regina uttered.

The darkness let out a mirthless laugh. "I'm not the one who can't mind her own business. It's time the Saviour learnt a lesson, wouldn't you say?"

But Regina was not about to let that happen. She called forth a powerful fireball and aimed. "Take one step closer to my wife and I will make you regret even setting eyes on her."

It seemed the darkness was wise enough to heed Regina's words, and turned back to face her. Emma continued walking, brandishing the knife, making he way into the foyer.

"Now, where were we?" the darkness asked.

"About to leave," Emma growled, holding the knife as if it was a baseball bat, and she was ready to strike a home run with it.

The darkness waved a hand dismissively, but otherwise showed no signs of having paid attention to Emma's words. "Ah yes, you not understanding why I want you to join me. Would you like that I...sweeten the deal?"

Regina frowned, and then scoffed. "You really think you can bribe me?"

A chuckle. "Perhaps sweeten was the wrong word. Bribing isn't really my thing."

"Hyaah!" Emma exclaimed foolishly, swinging the knife with both arms, fully intending to strike the darkness from side to side. But the weapon just phased through the figure, making Emma stumble.

"Emma!" Regina exclaimed, and began to move towards where Emma had gone. But she was stopped by the darkness extending its arm straight to its side like a barrier.

The darkness sighed and then flicked its wrist and sent Emma skidding backwards, while simultaneously picking the knife up with its magic. Forming a fist with its hand, the knife shattered into a hundred little pieces before the fist unfurled, letting the shards fall. "Now that the distraction is taken care of, let's get serious."

She turned to face the darkness with rising anger. "You think you can come around just like that-"

Regina's remaining words died on her lips as the darkness began to shift, changing its form. By the time Regina's mouth snapped shut, she was facing Cora, complete with a haughty frown and disapproving, mightier-than-thou jutting out of her chin. "Regina," she said, and it sounded so much like her mother that a broken sob escaped her lips.

Then she remembered where she was. "Pretending to be my mother will not buy you any sympathy for me."

Cora - no, the darkness - let out a scoff. "Regina dear, I'm not looking for sympathy, but rather a form you'll be more receptive to."

"Then you're barking up the wrong tree, as that is the last form I would take orders from," Regina muttered.

And yet, this form of Cora just cackled. "I thought it was quite to the contrary. You forget that I've resided in you for quite a while, Regina. I know you. You're terrified of Cora, even in death."

Regina, in an attempt to not show fear, just smirked confidently. "You might look like her, but you're not her. Even if I did fear her, I feared what she did, not what she looked like."

"I didn't just transform into Cora just for the aesthetic. I did it because I know that what I'm about to do will hurt more in this form."

As Cora began to advance towards Emma, Regina reacted, jumping forward to stand in front of where Emma was still picking herself up. "You want me, fine, we can negotiate, but you will leave Emma alone."

Cora raised an eyebrow knowingly. "So much for this form not having an effect on you..."

Regina's mouth quivered involuntarily in irritation. "Do you want a prize then?"

"No, your allegiance. Together, this world can become something incredible."

"Or maybe...you will  _back off_." Both Regina and Cora whipped around to see the Charmings and Blue bounding up the steps and coming in through the front door. Blue had spoken, brandishing the dagger in her hand.

Cora paled - if such a thing was possible, but she certainly didn't look confident anymore - and asked, "Where did you find this?"

"My business," Blue said. "But I control you now, and you will cease your plans."

"If you think-"

"Silence!" Blue held the dagger tighter. "And change your appearance back to your original one."

The darkness heeded the orders, wordlessly becoming the hooded figure once more. Regina felt Emma approach her and wrap a comforting arm around her, and she sunk back onto her wife's comforting chest.

"Now, behave." Blue took out a familiar box. Pandora's box. She activated the mechanism, absorbing the darkness within it. It didn't utter a sound as it disappeared into the tiny prison, and when it closed, the box just let out a woosh with an air of finality. It was gone.

Regina was shocked. "That's it?"

Blue seemed to understand what Regina was truly asking, and offered a tight-lipped smile. "Not all wrong-doers must be defeated in a ferocious battle. Sometimes, it simply is a game of chess."

"A treacherous one," Emma muttered, eyeing the box and the dagger.

"Perhaps," Blue sniffed, turning the box in her hand. "But I don't think  _it_  would've been too merciful if given a chance."

"What will you do with it?" David asked.

Blue seemed to ponder on it for a moment. "Make sure it never sees the light of day again."

With that, she bid all of them goodbye and left.

Emma shook her head. "Does she really have to be so shady?"

Mary Margaret let out an exasperated scoff and fixed her with a glare. Clearly this was a topic that had been exhausted multiple times over the course of many years. "What do you have against her, Emma? She just saved us all! Give her a break."

To Regina, she muttered conspiratorially, "Still shifty."

Regina let out a laugh. She was just so happy, even listening to them banter. It was as if she had been rejuvenated. After giving Henry the all-clear - he had holed up with young Neal at the Nolans' house with Red - she thanked the Charmings and ushered them out of the house, before proceeding to have her wicked way with Emma.

Just because she was no longer hosting a piece of the epitome of evil didn't mean she couldn't get naughty.

* * *

**Epilogue**

"Come on Emma, we're gonna be late!" Regina called.

Emma huffed, climbing down the stairs at an arduous pace. "Are you seriously rushing a pregnant woman to go faster?"

Regina rolled her eyes. "Yes I am. Your mother keeps sending me frantic texts and you know how I get when she's in one of those moods. Plus if you think I'm going to miss our son's graduation..."

"He's graduating high school, not summa cum laude at Harvard, we can afford to be a few minutes late." Emma grumbled, reaching the final step and seeming proud of herself for that.

"It's still important!" Regina responded, exasperated. "I'm also surprised you know what summa cum laude even is," she added after a moment, while they began to walk to the car.

Emma's smug smirk made Regina roll her eyes, but the response had her groaning. "I'm a genius, haven't you already figured that out?"

"With your Charming genes dear, I'll admit I don't think there's much chance for a genius to shine," Regina playfully riposted.

Mocking that she was affronted, Emma countered, "I will remind you that those very same genes are running through our son's body, and our future child's."

They had reached the car so Regina turned towards Emma, and gave her a slow and languid kiss. Once they broke apart, she said, "And that there is the proof that nurture does conquer nature."

Emma smirked, pulling Regina closer, "Oh don't look so smug babe, you love the Charming gene."

Regina didn't respond, and made a show of thinking it out, biting her lip and looking dubious.

"Oh come on!" Emma groaned.

With a laugh, Regina kissed Emma again. "Okay okay, I admit it, I love you, and our little family, no matter how much the Charming gene might get on my nerves."

"Please, the Charming gene is what makes us this desirable."

"If that's what you want to believe dear, then sure. Now come on, our son is about to graduate." Regina gave one final kiss before going to open the passenger door for Emma, since she was already quite a-ways along her pregnancy, and Regina refused to let Emma drive.

Though she found she was quite enjoying pampering her wife. It was an exciting and new process, made so much better because they could now enjoy this together.

_**The end** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tadaaa! In Sickness and in Health is now complete!
> 
> The darkness' likeness was based on the Dark One seen in the ep Dreamcatcher with Merlin. And shady Blue came through! I figured I should have at least one fic where she isn't the inherent evil/bad guy.
> 
> I'll admit I wasn't ever planning on ending with a pregnancy, but since everyone seemed keen earlier on to have one of them pregnant, I figured, why the hell not!
> 
> Now, since my ongoing stories' count is quite high, I won't be starting a new story quite yet, but I would still like to ask for a favour!
> 
> In my profile over on ff.net [which you can click through over on my profile [here](https://www.fanfiction.net/~applesaday)], I have a list of plots for upcoming full length stories, and I would like for you to tell me what are your top three options for most interesting story you'd want me to tackle.
> 
> Once I finish a few more stories, I'll get around to writing the ones which people seem most enthused about. Maybe even for the next Big Bang since that's coming up again.
> 
> Anyway! I hope you all enjoyed this fic, with all its twists and turns, and that the ending was satisfactory!
> 
> Meanwhile, I'll be updating Her Stable Girl, and How many times can a heart break? so look forward to that.
> 
> Thank you to all the readers for sticking with this, and all the wonderful reviews too!


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